Indiana mother appeared fit and healthy before suddenly dying aboard AA flight, family and friends say

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An Indiana mother who suddenly fell and died aboard a flight home from the Dominican Republic last week had no pre-existing conditions, kept herself in good shape and even trained while on vacation in the Caribbean nation, her family and friends told ABC News.

Stefanie Smith, 41, was on American Airlines Flight 2790 from Punta Cana to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 28 when her health took a sudden turn, police said. 

She was given CPR on the plane and then the aircraft was diverted to the Turks and Caicos Islands, where she was taken to a local hospital but could not be saved.

Stefanie Smith, 41, was on American Airlines Flight 2790 from Punta Cana to Charlotte, North Carolina, when she started convulsing and died. (Facebook/Stefanie Smith/Eric MD Bell Funeral Home and Cremation Services)

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Her cause of death has yet to be determined and those close to her say they are shocked by her unexplained death.

Smith's boyfriend was sitting next to her on the flight and said her eyes rolled back and she started convulsing, her friend Maria Yannotti, told ABC. Yannotti was also on the trip and traveled separately.

Yannotti said Smith's boyfriend initially thought she was joking around but soon realized she was in distress.

Then a doctor and nurses on board the plane helped administer CPR before the plane made an emergency landing in the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory located in the southeast of the Bahamas.

Smith was vacationing with her boyfriend for five days and seemed