A young girl died Thursday evening on a flight out of Los Angeles International Airport headed to Seattle, officials said.

“Delta Air Lines Flight 2423 to Seattle returned to LAX because of a passenger medical emergency,” Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.

Paramedics responded to the gate at 5:53 p.m. and “furiously worked to save her life,” according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

“Sadly, all efforts were futile and the child was beyond medical help,” LAFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene.


The Los Angeles County coroner’s office identified the girl as Janice Xu, 10, of West Vancouver, Canada. Her autopsy is pending.

Initial media reports suggested the girl may have suffered cardiac arrest. Foul play was not suspected.

“Paramedics and a number of people came in and the young girl was in the back in the galley and they were doing CPR on her for a long time,” passenger Terry Fisher told KOMO News.

Delta said that passengers were put on another plane to Seattle, where they landed early Friday morning.