They try to wake a woman after landing and discover that she was dead

Passengers on a flight between the United Kingdom and France witnessed a rare sight: upon landing, they discovered that a passenger was not asleep, as they believed, but had died.

Specifically, the victim was a 73-year-old woman who was traveling on a British Airways flight between London's Heathrow airport and the city of Nice, in the south of France.

Other passengers on Thursday's flight only realized something was wrong after landing.. When passengers near her seat began to collect their suitcases to disembark, the woman, who was supposed to be sleeping, was found to be unresponsive, French newspaper The Connexion reports.

Seeing that the woman did not react, the passengers became increasingly concerned and called the flight crew, who called the emergency services.

The paramedics who came to the scene tried to revive her, but unfortunately they could not help her.. She was pronounced dead at 10:00 p.m. local time in Nice.

The woman, a 73-year-old British national, is believed to have suffered a heart attack, a Nice airport official told The Connexion.

British Airways said in a statement: “Sadly, a customer died on a flight from London Heathrow to Nice.. Our thoughts are with the client's family at this difficult time.. “We cannot provide or confirm any further details about the passenger.”