Veteran and Bristol County native dies while on plane headed to Boston

A Bristol County native who served our country has died, according to officials.

According to Tim McGuirk of Massachusetts State Police Media Relations, Tuesday, Troopers assigned to Troop F, Crime Scene Services Section, and the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit responded to an unattended death aboard an Air France flight from Paris to Boston.

The preliminary information suggests the death resulted from a medical episode during the flight. Investigators will await the official cause and manner of death from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.  

The decedent was identified as Barbara Dipoli, 53, of Topeka, Kansas.

According to family, DiPoli was a senior master chief, her last rank in her 20 years at the United States Air Force upon retirement in 2024. DiPoli started in the Army and did two tours in Iraq, Ramadi and Fallujah, before she transferred to the Air Force. Her last duty station was Maxwell Air Base in Alabama.

DiPoli was a Taunton native and stated on social media in November that she had been overseas in the UK recently.

Services have not yet been announced.