An 8-year-old girl died Thursday after a United Airlines flight required an emergency landing at General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport.
Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins said that at 7 a.m., deputies responded to the airport after receiving a report of a plane landing at PIA due to a medical emergency. The flight, which was United Airlines Flight 5121 with service from Joplin Regional Airport to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, had been slated to land in Chicago at 7:54 a.m., but landed in Peoria due to the situation.
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When deputies came on the scene, they began life-saving measures alongside AMT personnel and Illinois Air National Guard firefighters. The child transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Those on the flight remained at PIA on layover for over five hours before a flight from PIA to O’Hare could be arranged. That flight left at 12:30 p.m. and arrived in Chicago over an hour later.
The sheriff’s office and the Peoria County Coroner are continuing to investigate the incident. Watkins recommends that people keep the girl’s family in their thoughts and prayers for the time being.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Young girl dead after plane makes emergency landing in Peoria
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