A 49-year-old Saudi woman has died aboard a Qatar Airways flight traveling to Houston from Doha over the weekend, the airline has confirmed.

The woman, identified by the Houston Chronicle as Fatimah M. Alsiari, had been flying to the US to seek medical treatment. A Houston Police Department official told the newspaper that the cause of her death was still being investigated.

Speaking to Doha News, a Qatar Airways spokeswoman declined to discuss the passenger’s medical state, but said that nurses and a doctor aboard the flight tended to her.

“Everything was done to try to save her,” she said.

She added that the woman died while in US airspace, closer to the end of the roughly 16-hour flight. 

Qatar Airways has a set policy in terms of how an aircraft manages onboard deaths, but it is not shared publicly, because every situation is different, the spokeswoman said.

“However, if a person needs medical attention, we divert to the closest airport possible,” she added.

Anyone know more? Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Doug