According to a report from the Manila International Airport Authority, Macario Gonzales was on a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight from Vancouver when he complained of back pain seven hours before the aircraft’s scheduled arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal 2.
Apparently to lessen the pain, the octogenarian asked a stewardess for a hot compress to place against his back.
Four hours later, at around 1 a.m., members of the flight crew noticed that Gonzales had fallen unconscious and was unresponsive. Gonzales’ wife, who was with him, tried to stir him awake but failed.
A doctor on the same flight attempted to revive the elderly passenger but pronounced him dead 30 minutes later from cardio-pulmonary arrest.
Thirteen minutes before the PAL plane landed at the NAIA, Gonzales’ death was called in to the airline’s station control.
When the aircraft landed at 4:47 a.m., the body was temporarily brought to the airport ramp clinic while funeral arrangements were made by the passenger’s family.
