A passenger on Aer Lingus flight EI 485 en route from Lisbon in Portugal to Dublin in Ireland became “extremely violent” and bit a fellow passenger. After he was restrained by cabin crew, the man then became “unwell” and finally died on board the A320-200 plane.
The flight had to be diverted to make an emergency landing in Cork after the passenger, believed to be around 24-years-old, became violent and attacked a fellow passenger and then had to be restrained, after which he fell unconscious and passed away.
As reported by the Mirror , air crew on the Aer Lingus plane sent an emergency “Pan Pan” message three times in rapid succession and then advised Irish air traffic control of the violent incident on board the plane . The pilot told controllers that one of the passengers on the flight was “running amok” and had already injured one or two passengers.
BREAKING A 24 y/o man died on an Aer Lingus #EI485 after biting an other passenger http://t.co/3Ou203sGax pic.twitter.com/lrU9rTnXTf
— AirLive.net (@airlivenet) October 18, 2015
There was reportedly a doctor on board the plane who tried to assist the restrained passenger when he became unconscious, but he finally said the man no longer had a pulse.
The plane’s crew were in contact with the Irish Aviation Authority’s North Atlantic Communications Service center at Ballygirreen when they informed controllers of the situation on board the plane, requesting clearance to divert the flight and land at Cork airport due to a medical emergency.
The Aer Lingus plane finally landed safely at 5:40 p.m., and all 168 passengers and the six crew members left the plane and entered the airport building.
After the Aer Lingus flight landed at Cork airport, paramedics and an ambulance immediately responded to the scene after the pilot had declared the incident a mid-flight medical emergency. The passenger bitten by the man was taken to hospital along with a second man who was reportedly also injured during the biting incident while trying to help the deceased man.
Man dies on Aer Lingus flight ‘after biting passenger’ http://t.co/azOHGWCxb3 pic.twitter.com/ZB4yJ6vOYK
— ITV News (@itvnews) October 19, 2015
Aer Lingus issued a statement Sunday evening saying that the plane had been forced to divert and land at Cork airport due to a “medical emergency on board.”
“Aer Lingus flight EI 485 Lisbon to Dublin, diverted into Cork due to a medical emergency on board.
“There were 168 guests and six crew members on board. The flight landed safely at 17.40 local time.”
The deceased man has not been named, but he was apparently traveling alone on the flight and is not believed to be Irish, although he may have been studying in that country.
Police in Ireland were at the airport Sunday evening investigating the incident and were reportedly interviewing passengers about the attack in the cabin. A post-mortem examination is being carried out Monday on the body of the deceased passenger by authorities to try to establish why the man passed away.
This is why you should wash your fellow passenger before biting into them. http://t.co/adWlxIch7n
— DrMajorlyPhD, Expert (@majorlyp) October 19, 2015
In further reports, a woman who was traveling on the flight has since been arrested following the incident on the Aer Lingus plane , but it is unclear if this relates to the passenger’s death or to a separate issue. According to the Irish Mirror , although earlier reported that the man was traveling alone, it is now believed the woman was accompanying the man on the flight.
bath salts? vampirism? bath salts *and* vampirism? Aer Lingus passenger dies after ‘biting another passenger’ http://t.co/mIXDv5443R
— Nicole Sherburne (@nicolesherburne) October 19, 2015
Meanwhile, in true form, Twitter members are theorizing the attack may be related to the “bath salts” drug, vampirism, or both.
In a later update, the Sunday World is reporting that the dead man was of Brazilian nationality and that a “number of packages” were found on his person, containing some kind of powdered substance .
More updated information is now available on the Inquisitr following the post-mortem.
[Image: Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200 courtesy Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Hans-Peter Gauster
