EXCLUSIVE NEWS: Mysterious death on Chinese flight in Budapest, airline stays silent

One of our readers shared with us a story about a mysterious death on board a China Southern Airlines flight that landed in Budapest on 20 October. Our reader wrote that he was on board trying to resuscitate a woman suffering from cardiopulmonary arrest with a student surgeon and the victim’s husband. The crew could not provide an automated external defibrillator, and the woman died after landing in Budapest. Budapest Airport acknowledged the tragedy, but the Chinese airline still denies it, our reader wrote.

Crew could not provide an automated external defibrillator

One of our readers shared an eyebrow-raising tragedy with our editorial staff lately. The sorrowful events affected a China Southern Airlines aircraft, arriving from Guangzhou (China) to Budapest on 20 October 2024 under flight number CZ 0649.

According to our reader, two hours before landing, “a flight attendant called into the cabin to ask if any medical personnel were on board to help a passenger.” As a nurse, our reader volunteered and tried to rescue the life of a woman suffering from cardiopulmonary arrest with her husband, a student surgeon and a stewardess.

“After a quick assessment of the situation, I took the victim to the back of the aircraft, as she was in cardiopulmonary arrest. I then began CPR with the help of a young surgical student and the victim’s husband. I asked the flight crew for an automatic defibrillator, but they said they didn’t have one”, he added.

He said the crew did not know what to do, so they were on their own to rescue the woman’s life. It took more than 1.5 hours until the plane landed in Budapest, where a rescue team took over the patient but with no success. Then, the Hungarian nurse was left alone without help from the crew.

Mysterious death: Airline silent, Budapest Airport acknowledges tragedy

“For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been trying in vain to get information from the airline, which tells me every day that they are not aware of this incident, and that they are not aware that one of their passengers died on their plane. The company never tried to reach me, no help was offered, no support. I’m still terribly shocked by this event. I don’t understand why there was no defibrillator on board. Why didn’t we land earlier at another, closer airport to take care of the victim? Why did the airline say it was unaware that someone had died on one of their flights? Why didn’t the company try to reach me? To accompany me? Why does the company ignore my requests? Why doesn’t the company react to such a serious event?”

We asked Budapest Airport about the tragedy. The airport wrote that the crew of the plane asked for medical help from the airport at dawn on 20 October for an unconscious passenger. They sent an AMS unit, which took over the cardiopulmonary resuscitation of the patient but could not save her life.

We wrote to China Southern Airlines on 1 November, but they have not yet replied despite our warning that we would like to cover the story.

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