An 8-year-old girl from Missouri became “ill and unresponsive” on a SkyWest flight to Chicago on Thursday and was later pronounced dead, authorities said. The flight the child was on took off from Joplin, Missouri, and was headed to Chicago before making an emergency landing in Peoria, Illinois. “Her family immediately notified the flight personnel of her condition, and they began rapidly rendering aid.
Emergency personnel, including deputies and the Air National Guard, attempted “life-saving measures,” but the child was later pronounced dead at a local hospital, the sheriff’s office said. In a statement to NBC News on Friday, SkyWest Airlines confirmed the child was aboard flight 5121, operating as United Express, from Joplin to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, when a passenger became sick and the flight was diverted to Peoria.