At the time of the diversion, airline staff were told the passenger had suffered cardiac arrest, an airline spokeswoman told CNN.
Paramedics took him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The passenger’s wife was overheard telling the EMT that her husband had Covid-related symptoms, including loss of taste and smell, the spokeswoman said.
However, Covid-19 was never confirmed by the medical professionals at the time, the spokeswoman said.
When checking in to the flight, the passenger acknowledged on the airline’s Ready-to-Fly checklist that he had not been diagnosed with Covid-19 and had no Covid-related symptoms, the spokeswoman said.
After receiving more information about the health of this passenger, “it is clear that he has falsely recognized this requirement,” said the spokeswoman.
Because medical professionals initially labeled the emergency as cardiac arrest, the flight continued on to Los Angeles on the same plane and passengers were given the option to disembark the plane and take a later flight, the airline’s statement said. “A change of aircraft was not justified,” the airline said.
All passengers chose to continue on to Los Angeles.
The family confirmed that the man was suffering from pre-existing conditions, including high blood pressure and upper respiratory problems, and that he was feeling ill leading up to the day of travel.
United shares the requested information with the CDC “so they can work with local health officials to reach a customer,” the agency believes is at risk of potential exposure or infection, the airline’s statement said.
The company has been in touch with the man’s family and “expressed our sincere condolences to them for their loss,” the statement said.
Airlines asking for more contact information
On Wednesday, United Airlines announced that it will ask passengers for additional contact details in case someone on their flight gets the corona virus.
They can then share that information with the CDC.
Earlier this month, Delta Air Lines also announced it would request contact information for passengers entering the United States.
So far, no major outbreaks of Covid-19 have been traced back to a commercial flight in the US, but so far there have been no widespread attempts to track down passengers’ contacts.
CNN’s Pete Muntean and Greg Wallace also contributed to this story.