An Indian-origin woman, who was on her way to visit family in India for the first time in four years, died on a Qantas flight just before takeoff in Australia. The incident happened on June 20 when 24-year-old Manpreet Kaur boarded the aircraft ready to fly from Melbourne to Delhi, news.com.au reported. However, Ms Kaur suffered a medical episode soon after boarding the plane at Tullamarine Airport. 

According to a friend, the 24-year-old student reportedly ”felt unwell” hours before arriving at the airport but managed to board the flight without any issues. But when she went to put on her seatbelt, Ms Kaur fell to the floor and ”died on the spot.”

”When she got on the plane, she was struggling to put her seatbelt on. Just before her flight started, she fell in front of her seat and died on the spot,” her friend Gurdip Grewal told the Herald Sun.

A Qantas spokesman said flight crew and emergency services had attempted to provide medical assistance. It is understood that she likely died of tuberculosis

Her roommate said Ms Kaur worked at Australia Post and wanted to become a chef. The woman’s friend Mr Grewal launched a GoFundMe in a bid to raise money for her family.

”Hi, my name is Gurdip Grewal and I’m fundraising for Manpreet Kaur. She was a student from my village and going home. She died in a plane during take-off at Melbourne Airport.

Our dear friend Manpreet left us too soon, leaving a void in our lives that can never be filled. As we grieve her passing, we want to come together to honour her memory and support her family in their time of need. As we say our final goodbyes, every contribution, big or small, brings us closer to our goal. Your support means the world to us and Manpreet’s family,” he wrote. 

Victoria Police are preparing a report for the coroner. A Qantas spokesperson told news.com.au that their “thoughts are with her family and loved ones”.

An American woman travelling on American Airlines Flight 2790 from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, to Charlotte, North Carolina, tragically passed away after experiencing a sudden illness on the flight, according to The New York Post.

The 41-year-old passenger, identified by family members as an Indiana mother of two, became ill during the flight, prompting the crew to divert the plane to Providenciales International Airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Despite the crew’s efforts to revive the woman and the prompt response of medical personnel upon landing, she was pronounced dead at the local hospital. The Royal Turks and Caicos Island Police Force confirmed the incident and stated that a post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death, according to the news outlet.

“A commercial flight was diverted to the Turks and Caicos this evening after a female passenger fell ill mid-flight. At 6:12 pm, the Police Control Room received a call from the Air Traffic Control Tower requesting medical assistance for a 41-year-old female, who at the time was receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR),” reads the Facebook post.

While the official identification of the dead is pending, a woman on Facebook also identified the passenger as her sister-in-law.

“We are in disbelief, and our hearts are broken,” Stephanie Quinn wrote in response to the Royal Turks and Caicos Island Police Force’s announcement.

Quinn described her sister-in-law as the only girl out of five siblings and the mother of two “beautiful children with big hearts and straight as.”

“She is still down there, so please take good care of her as she ventures home,” pleaded Quinn, who did not immediately respond to messages Friday.

When traveling on a plane, passengers should follow some basic etiquette and do their best to not disturb or trouble anyone seated around them. Recently, a plane passenger was left disgusted after a man decided to rest his ”dirty and smelly” bare feet on her armrest, the New York Post reported.

The incident happened when Pornpreeya Keng, 27 was aboard a budget airline flying from Bangkok, Thailand to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. As she settled in to enjoy the view, an offensive stench left her irritated. When she tried to locate the smell, she noticed that the passenger in the window seat behind her had put his bare foot up on her armrest.

”I tried to shift in my seat to make him aware of my discomfort, but he didn’t notice me. I felt uncomfortable, but I did not want to confront him directly, so I took a video of his poor manners,” she said.

In the video, Ms Keng can be seen showing the man’s bare feet resting on her armrest.

Ms Keng noted that the passenger continued to move around to find a more comfortable sleeping position, causing the smell to intensify and make her dizzy.

Not able to take it any longer, she informed the flight attendant, who told the man to put his feet down on her behalf.

She then used a menthol nasal inhaler to try to erase the smell of her feet and feel better.

She added that passengers should educate themselves on “proper flight etiquette” and inform the flight attendant if they need help with a situation similar to this.

A Florida-based etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore told Fox News, that the actions by the barefoot passenger were “extremely impolite.” 

“People forget to pack their manners when they travel,” she added.