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A LONG-HAUL passenger sat with her boyfriend's body for more than nine hours after he choked to death on an in-flight meal. Robert Rippingale died after a piece of beef became lodged in his throat on the jet to New Zealand. Devastated girlfriend Vanessa Preechakul, 27, said she initially mistook his shaking for laughter. She said: "At first I thought he was laughing very hard at the in-flight movie. Then I looked at his face and his eyes were rolling and he couldn't talk. "His lips were turning purple. One minute we were sitting next to each other kissing, holding hands and the next minute he was choking." A doctor and two nurses on the Jetstar Airlines flight from Singapore to Auckland battled to save the 31-year-old New Zealander but he was pronounced dead 90 minutes into the 11-hour journey. Flight attendants moved his body into a curtained crew rest area but heartbroken Vanessa asked to sit next to him for the rest of the flight. The couple had been heading to New Zealand last week to meet his family and to celebrate his parents' 50th birthdays. Robert, who had lived in Singapore for three years, was buried in New Zealand yesterday. Andrew McGinnes, a spokesman for Jetstar, expressed his condolences and thanked those who tried to save Robert. A coroner's report is expected later this month.