A passenger who fell sick on an Air Malta flight to Gatwick this morning passed away as efforts were being made to revive her.

The flight was diverted to Lyon where attempts by the crew and a French medical team to revive her failed.   

The woman was  accompanied by a male companion.

The flight, KM116, left Malta at 8.44am and was diverted to Lyon when it was about 400 miles from destination. It landed in Lyon just before 11am.

A passenger said the captain announced the diversion for an emergency landing at 10.32am. Passengers were calm but curious.

The passenger said CPR was first performed by the cabin crew as they waited for French emergency personnel to arrive.

Once the French medical personnel arrived, they worked incessantly at the back of the aircraft's to revive the patient.