Photo: aapsky / iStock / Getty Images
An eight-year-old girl died following a flight that departed from Joplin, Missouri, on Thursday (June 13). According to the Daily Mail, SkyWest Flight 512, which was heading to Chicago, Illinois, departed at 6 a.m. but was forced to make an emergency landing in Peoria, Illinois, about 45 minutes later because the young girl suffered a medical emergency.
The Peoria County Coroner's Office said that the girl, identified as Sydney Weston, was unresponsive.
"Her family immediately notified the flight personnel of her condition, and they began rapidly rendering aid," the coroner's office said in a statement.
The girl was met by paramedics at General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport, but she was not breathing and had no pulse. They attempted life-saving measures and rushed her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy has been scheduled to determine how the young girl died.
"Please keep the child's family and everyone who was involved in this traumatic experience in your thoughts and prayers," Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins said in a statement.