Summary

  • Our deepest condolences to the family of 8-year-old Sydney Weston, who tragically passed away mid-flight.
  • Emergency responders and crew acted swiftly to provide life-saving measures, but sadly, it was to no avail.
  • The autopsy was inconclusive, and further tests are needed to determine the cause of death.

Thankfully, these types of stories don’t come along all that often, but when they do, we try to be respectful to the family, fellow passengers, crews, emergency responders and anyone else involved in this tragedy. On Thursday, a young girl died after suffering a medical emergency on board a commercial airline flight that originated from Joplin, Missouri, bound for Chicago.

Here is what happened

The incident occurred on a SkyWest Airlines flight operating as United Express on June 13. According to Flightradar24, flight UA5121 departed Joplin Regional Airport (JLN) at 06:03 and was scheduled to arrive at Chicago O’Hare International (ORD) at 07:54. Around 40 minutes into the flight, the plane took a diversion to make an emergency landing at Peoria International (PIA) in Illinois around 07:00.

SkyWest SKW5121 Diverted to PIA

The Peoria County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement stating that at approximately 07:00 on Thursday, June 13, Deputies responded to 6100 W Everett McKinley Dirksen Parkway on a flight landing at the Peoria International Airport for a medical emergency.

“When the plane landed, Deputies, AMT Personnel and Air National Guard Fire personnel immediately received the 8-year-old female child and began life-saving measures. The child was transported to a local hospital by AMT, where she was unfortunately pronounced deceased.”

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A second statement was issued naming the child as 8-year-old Sydney Weston of Carl Junction, Missouri. The girl was traveling with her family for vacation when she suddenly became ill and then unresponsive mid-flight and the family immediately notified the flight personnel, who quickly began rendering aid. The statement added:

“Upon landing in Peoria, she was not breathing and had no pulse. Deputies, AMT Personnel and Air National Guard Fire personnel immediately began life-saving measures. Little Weston was emergently transported to OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, where, despite aggressive resuscitative efforts, she was pronounced deceased at 8:05 am this morning.”

The aftermath so far

The Sheriff’s Office added that an autopsy would be held on Friday and that “this release will be updated with more following those preliminary findings.” On Friday, the Peoria Journal Star reported that the autopsy was inconclusive and it would take longer to determine the girl’s cause of death.

Coroner Jamie Harwood said the autopsy was still pending several studies, including biopsies, toxicology, blood hematology and chemistry, histology and assorted cultures. The coroner added that preliminary findings showed no evidence of foul play and no signs of abuse or neglect but that additional testing will likely take four to six weeks to be completed.

United CRJ200

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

The aircraft involved was a 2003 Mitsubishi CRJ-200LR, registration N207PS and MSN 7873. The tracking data from Flightradar24 shows that a different Mitsubishi CRJ-200LR, N983SW, was used to ferry the passengers stranded at Peoria International, who finally arrived at Chicago O’Hare at 13:20 on Thursday.

The original CRJ-200LR departed PIA as United Express flight UA6969 at 16:09, headed for Chicago O’Hare, where it landed at 16:44. The jet stayed there overnight and on Friday operated a full day of regional flying from Chicago to Appleton (ATW), Dayton (DAY) and Tulsa (TUL).

A big shout out to the families, friends, crew and responders involved in this horrible incident. Let us know your feelings in the comments.

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