Video Shows A Man Who Lied About His COVID-19 Symptoms Dying On A Flight

Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images

There’s a reason the CDC is recommending that people avoid travelling during the holidays–there’s no way of knowing the health statuses of the people around you. This fact was illustrated very clearly by a shocking event that occurred last Monday that was caught on video.

On December 14th, a man died on a United Airlines flight from Orlando to Los Angeles after lying about his symptoms.

Since news of his death went viral, footage of multiple passengers performing emergency CPR on him for 45 minutes has since been circulated.

According to various reports, the unidentified man was exhibiting troubling symptoms before the plane took off–namely shaking, sweating heavily and breathing with difficulty. About an hour into the flight, the man stopped breathing and the flight crew asked for CPR volunteers. In the meantime, they diverted the flight to New Orleans.

By the time the plane landed and the man was transported to the local hospital, he was pronounced dead.

Like every other passenger, the man had filled out a pre-flight checklist in which he agreed that he was not exhibiting any symptoms of coronavirus.

United later confirmed that the deceased passenger “wrongly acknowledged this requirement.”

Passengers also confirmed that the airline did not take people’s temperatures when boarding the flight. One passenger also reported that, after the diversion, United did not switch planes, but instead gave passengers the option of

In response to this, United gave the following statement: “At the time of the diversion, we were informed he had suffered a cardiac arrest, so passengers were given the option to take a later flight or continue on with their travel plans.”

According to the flight’s passengers, the man’s wife was also overheard saying that her husband had been ill in the days leading up to the flight and that he had also lost his sense of taste and smell.

One of the passengers that attempted to resuscitate the man described the experience later via Twitter.

“I made the decision to attempt to save the passengers life and along with 2 others performed CPR for close to an hour until we landed. And continued to help the firefighters when they came onboard,” wrote passenger Tony Aldapa.

He continued: “I spent the remainder of the flight covered in my own sweat and in that man’s urine. I have since become symptomatic myself and am awaiting the results of my second test. I have not been contacted by the airline or by @CDCgov as of this time.”

Unsurprisingly, many people are upset both at United for failing to have a protocol in place from preventing sick passengers from boarding their planes and at the unidentified man for knowing he was sick and putting everyone in danger.

“What a disaster!” wrote one Twitter user. “Not only was passenger and family exhibiting selfish behavior, United Airlines continues to exhibit incompetence as an airline.”