Flight attendant dies while plane from Hawaii is over the ocean, airline says

Just three hours into a flight from Hawaii to New York, passengers heard a startling announcement on a Hawaiian Airlines plane, flyers say.

The pilot asked for doctors to come forward to the first-class cabin, novelist Andrea Barth wrote on Twitter.

Flight attendant Emile Griffith, a 31-year employee of Hawaiian Airlines, suffered an apparent heart attack and died on the flight, which was diverted to San Francisco, KPIX reported.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Emile Griffith, a member of our flight attendant ‘ohana for over 31 years who passed away while working on our flight between Honolulu and New York last night,” the airline said in a statement, Hawaii News Now reported.

“We are forever grateful for Emile’s colleagues and good Samaritans on board who stayed by his side and provided extensive medical help,” the statement read. “Emile both loved and treasured his job at Hawaiian and always shared that with our guests. Our hearts are with Emile’s family, friends and all those fortunate to have known him.”

The flight had 253 passengers and 12 crew members aboard, CNN reported.

It had departed Daniel K. Inouye International Airport at 4:13 p.m local time Thursday, bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, until the mid-flight emergency, KGO reported.

“Btw if you’re ever going to have a medical emergency in the air, this is the flight to do it on,” Bartz wrote on Twitter. “So many doctors came forward they had to make a second announcement like ‘never mind, all set!!’ ”

“There are cops, too, and no one’s moving with any urgency and they just had an elderly man with a yarmulke come up to the front. Did someone die?” Bartz posted a few minutes later.

Passengers spent about two more hours on the plane after landing in San Francisco, KPIX reported.

“It’s just confusing, trying to figure out what’s going on. I wasn’t sure what was happening, and not too many people were,” said passenger Damien Stack, according to the station. “We knew it was a medical emergency, but we didn’t know specifically what it was, until after we landed.”

Hawaiian Airlines says passengers were rebooked on other flights to New York and will receive compensation, ABC News reported.

This story was originally published January 27, 2019 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Flight attendant dies while plane from Hawaii is over the ocean, airline says."