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Plane lands in St. John’s, N.L., after man dies onboard; second time in a week

A man died on a transatlantic flight that was diverted to St. John’s early Thursday, the second time in less than a week that a plane had to make an emergency landing in the city for that reason.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — A man died on a transatlantic flight that was diverted to St. John’s early Thursday, the second time in less than a week that a plane had to make an emergency landing in the city for that reason.

The Delta Air Lines flight was on its way to London from New York when it was diverted at 1:30 a.m.

The 63-year-old passenger became ill and later died of natural causes, Newfoundland and Labrador’s chief medical examiner said.

But his death poses no health risk to other passengers onboard the flight, Dr. Simon Avis said.

The diversion of flights to Newfoundland because of emergencies onboard transatlantic flights is a frequent occurrence, he added.

“It’s actually quite common,” he said.

The flight resumed its journey about two hours later.