Tragic Jet2 dad collapsed down aircraft steps with children after emergency touchdown

A dad died in front of his two sons on a Jet2 flight home from a family holiday. It has now been revealed exactly where he was when tragically pronounced dead.

Chris Neill, 40, was headed to Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport on Monday, September 16 when he began to feel seriously unwell. The plane, which had set off from Burgas, Bulgaria, declared a medical emergency and diverted to Cologne, Germany, as a result.

Chris was exiting the aircraft with sons Reece and Archie when he collapsed off the steps down and hit fatally hit the tarmac. The cause of death is not yet known but the father is thought to have suffered a heart attack.

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Prior to the emergency landing, cabin crew gave Chris an oxygen mask and moved him to the front of the plane. Despite being quickly attended to by an ambulance crew, he was pronounced dead at the scene, Mirror reports.

Chris’ own dad Mal has described him as a man who ‘lived life to the full’ in a heartfelt tribute, and is raising money to try and get his body repatriated following a mix-up with his travel insurance.

Mal Neill, Chris’ father, travelled to Germany the next day to bring his grandchildren, Reece, 19, and Archie, eight, back home. Mal described his son, an avid Everton supporter and fitness enthusiast, as someone who was “really liked by everybody”.

The family has now started a Gofundme to bring his body back home, which has so far raised £17,000 of its £25,000 target. Chris had gone on holiday believing he had travel insurance through his bank, Halifax, but this turned out to have expired. This has left the family in a desperate situation, trying to raise money to repatriate his body to the UK.

Mal said: “On the flight back he felt ill and they didn’t know what was wrong. They landed in Germany on their way back and as he was helped down the stairs he collapsed. He was dead when they got him in the ambulance.” “His eldest son rang Chris’s mum to tell her what happened and I flew out as soon as possible. I can’t praise Jet2 enough for how they dealt with it all. The kids were taken off the flight and Jet2 put them up in a hotel and tried to find them a flight home the next day.”

“I went straight to Manchester Airport because I live in Morecambe and just asked for the first flight out to Germany, they didn’t have any flights to Cologne so I flew to Dusseldorf. I then went to Cologne and managed to get Reece and Archie back to the UK while I stayed out there to try and sort things out.”

Sharing his memories of Chris, he said: “He was 6ft 4in and went to the gym every day, he was massive. He lived for his children and when I was going through photos for the GoFundMe there are so many of him and his sons. He was full of fun, bubbly, he would do anything for anybody. I know people say that when someone dies but he would have. He was really liked by everyone.”

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