Young Passenger Dies After Medical Crisis Aboard Southwest Flight to Los Angeles

Rain McMillan Walmsey, 22, died on August 7 after suffering a medical emergency aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 958 traveling from Dallas to Los Angeles International Airport. The passenger became unresponsive during the flight, triggering emergency response efforts that continued after the plane’s arrival at LAX, where he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Crew members administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation to Walmsey while the aircraft was in flight, and paramedics took over care upon landing. However, resuscitation efforts proved unsuccessful in reviving the young passenger, according to law enforcement sources who spoke with NBC Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office has classified Walmsey’s cause of death as “deferred,” indicating that the determination remains pending further investigation. Officials have not yet established a manner of death, and the specific nature of the medical emergency that struck Walmsey remains undetermined.

Southwest Airlines acknowledged that “a medical incident involving a customer” occurred aboard Flight 958 on Friday but declined to elaborate, directing inquiries to local authorities instead. The incident marks the latest in a series of fatal medical emergencies reported aboard commercial flights in recent months.

In January 2025, Barbara Dipoli, 53, of Kansas died aboard an Air France flight from Paris to Boston following what authorities described as a medical episode. A month earlier, in June 2024, an 8-year-old girl named Sydney Weston fell ill aboard a SkyWest flight, forcing the aircraft to divert to Peoria, Illinois, while a 41-year-old American passenger died during a medical crisis on a Fiji Airways flight headed to San Francisco that same month.