JetBlue Flight to Fort Lauderdale Forced to Land in Richmond

(Story updated at 7:48 p.m. Tuesday) FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — A JetBlue flight from Boston to Fort Lauderdale was forced to land in Richmond, Va. on Tuesday when a passenger apparently suffered a medical emergency, according to the airline and other passengers on the flight.

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Emergency responders from the Henrico Fire Emergency Medical Services boarded the plane and escorted the passenger off the flight with oxygen.

Miami attorney David LaValle, who was traveling with his wife Sunny and their son, Gabriel, told Patch that a middle-aged man appeared to have suffered two seizures.

"I was two seats away from it all," LaValle said. "We didn’t know what was going on."

LaValle said that some of the other passengers appeared frightened by the incident at first. "We had an ICU doctor on the plane who took care of the situation," he added with respect to the intensive care physician.

Another passenger sitting next to the man happened to be a JetBlue employee, who also assisted in caring for the man.

JetBlue confirmed that the plane landed safely in Richmond and that the passenger was taken off the flight.

"The aircraft will depart shortly and continue to its final destination," JetBlue said in an email to Patch.

According to JetBlue, Flight 2269 departed Logan International Airport in Boston at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday, about an hour and 23 minutes behind its scheduled departure.

The flight arrived in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Shortly before 7:30 p.m.