Tragedy on the flight: fell asleep on her mother’s shoulder – and didn’t wake up

Tragedy in flight: Rachel Green, a 44-year-old American lawyer, was found dead during a flight from Minnesota to London, after falling asleep on her mother’s shoulder and not waking up.

Rachel Green (not the character from “Friends”), a lawyer and amateur writer from Minnesota, was on her way to Britain to do research for a historical novel she was writing, which dealt with the character of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the wife of King Louis VII of France. During the flight, she fell asleep on her mother’s shoulder, but later it turned out that she had lost consciousness and could not be woken up.

The plane crew called a doctor from among the passengers and tried to perform CPR, but without success. When the plane landed it was reported that Green was already without signs of life.

In an investigation conducted at the West London Coroner’s Court, it was reported that a number of prescription drugs, including antidepressants, melatonin, cannabinoids and a small amount of alcohol, were found in Green’s body. In addition, it was discovered that she suffered from a congenital heart problem, a condition in which an artery runs inside the heart muscle instead of over it. According to the conclusions of the investigation, the combination between her cardiac condition and the medications she took probably contributed to her sudden death.

Green’s sister criticized the fact that her sister was not referred to a cardiologist, despite abnormal results in previous heart tests. “I ask why she was not referred for a proper examination before she was given so many drugs,” she said in her testimony.

“This lady just died in flight. She came to our country to do some research, and stayed with her mother for a while,” Senior Coroner Lydia Brown said in the courtroom. “Instead, she didn’t even get off the plane. Poor Rachel never finished that book. I wish it was different, it isn’t.”