ARIZONA, USA — A Dallas County woman in her 30s who had died while in a flight from Las Vegas to Dallas had COVID-19, state health officials confirmed.
On July 25, a Spirit Airlines flight diverted to New Mexico after a woman onboard was reported unresponsive, Albuquerque International Sunport officials confirmed.
Texas health officials had previously said the woman died on a flight from Arizona.
UPDATES: Dallas woman who had COVID-19 died in New Mexico while on Spirit Airlines flight from Nevada
"We offer sincere condolences to the family and friends of our Guest who passed away," Spirit Airlines said in a written statement.
Wednesday morning, an airport spokesperson said there was no mention of the woman having COVID-19 at the time the flight was diverted, so they treated it as any other medical incident.
However, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins' office was notified by the Texas Department of State Health Services that the woman did have coronavirus at the time of her death.
Due to state health officials having to match death certificates with COVID-19 positive patients, some reports can take weeks or months to be released.
Over the weekend Jenkins had originally stated that the woman was flying from Arizona at the time of her death.
The judge said the woman had underlying health conditions and that she died while the plane was on the tarmac awaiting takeoff. He said the woman was "ill and having trouble breathing."
In a written statement, Spirit Airlines stated all of its flight attendants have undergone in-depth training to respond to medical emergencies. The airlines also said it has several resources such as on-call professionals, medical kits and personal protective equipment.
"We comply with all CDC requests for information, and contact tracing is performed by public health agencies," Spirit Airlines said in a written statement.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Spirit requires passengers older than 2 years old to wear a face-covering at all times.
