United Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Athens after passenger dies

A United Airlines aircraft en route from New York to Dubai has made an emergency landing at Athens International Airport after a passenger fell ill and subsequently died.

The UA164 flight was south of Crete when its pilot radioed Athens with a request to make an emergency landing.

The plane landed in Athens at 2.30 p.m. and is scheduled to continue on its journey to Dubai at 4.20 p.m.Panic Over Crete: United Airlines Emergency Landing in Athens
The horror began when Flight UA977, operating aircraft N2140U, was cruising south of Crete over the Mediterranean Sea. According to ACARS logs, the flight crew declared an in-flight medical emergency after a passenger began experiencing life-threatening symptoms. The situation escalated rapidly, with the crew administering emergency medical care—including the use of a defibrillator—in an attempt to stabilize the passenger.

But time was not on their side.

Despite the crew’s rapid response and a priority landing at Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (ATH), the passenger was pronounced dead shortly after landing. Ground medical teams and emergency responders removed the deceased passenger and accompanying family members from the aircraft, which remained on the tarmac for nearly two hours as officials conducted mandatory procedures.

AED, CPR, and a Deadly Clock: Was This Preventable?
The incident has reignited conversations about automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and the preparedness of airline cabin crews to handle life-or-death situations. ACARS message logs indicated a checklist was executed for an overweight landing, followed by an equipment audit. The AED used during the emergency must be replaced within five flight cycles—a stark reminder of how razor-thin the margin is for life-saving intervention.

Passengers onboard Flight UA977 described the crew as “calm but visibly shaken.” Witnesses said the cabin crew activated full medical protocols, dimmed lights, and called for help from any doctors onboard. But the silence that followed was deafening.United Airlines Emergency in Athens: A Pattern Emerges?
What’s unsettling about this recent death is its eerie similarity to another in-flight death aboard United Airlines Flight UA206, which took place in December 2023. That flight, operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was en route from Bogotá, Colombia to Houston, Texas, when a passenger—who had been chatting with family moments before—fell into distress mid-flight.

The emergency landing in Cancún sparked confusion among passengers, many of whom believed the individual was still alive upon deplaning. But reports confirmed that the passenger was unresponsive and declared dead soon after landing.