British tourist, 59, dies while on flight to Chile with wife

Chilean police from a homicide unit met the aircraft when it arrived at the airport

The holidaymaker passed away before the plane, which was operated by Chilean airline LATAM, landed (Getty Images)

A man believed to be a British tourist has died while on a flight to Chile with his wife.

The 59-year-old and his partner were travelling from the Falkland Islands to the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas on Saturday when the tragedy unfolded.

The holidaymaker passed away before the plane, which was operated by Chilean airline LATAM, landed.

He and his wife had been set to take a second flight to the country’s capital Santiago de Chile.

Chilean police from a homicide unit met the aircraft when it arrived at Carlos Ibanez del Campo Airport.

Diego Díaz, Deputy Commissioner of the specialist unit based in Punta Arenas, told local press: "On Saturday, on the instructions of local prosecutors, detectives from the Punta Arenas Homicide Brigade went to Carlos Ibanez del Campo Airport after a British tourist aged 59 died inside a plane while it was travelling from the Falkland Islands to Punta Arenas before his connecting flight to Santiago."

Confirming officers had discovered nothing to suggest his death had been the result of a crime, Díaz added: "The man's wife was interviewed and said he had several underlying health issues."

A post-mortem due to take place on Sunday or Monday is expected to confirm he died of natural causes.

The whereabouts of the unnamed man's wife on Sunday was not immediately clear.

It comes after a passenger died on board a Jet2 plane last month, forcing the flight to divert.

The man was said to have been found dead inside the toilet on 2 January after fellow travellers noticed the door had been locked for a while and alerted staff.

The flight, which was supposed to be travelling from Tenerife to Manchester, was forced to land in Cork in Ireland instead.

One passenger told the Mirror all those on board were “very upset” by the devastating incident.