Australian couple seated next to blanket-draped corpse on long-haul flight

Probably better than sitting next to a person who snores in their sleep

A stiff flight.

Completely disrespectful to the passengers and to the deceased. Unhygienic too. I hope she sues them for a lot of money.

> "They said,'Can you move over please' and I just said, 'Yes no problem.' Then they placed the lady in the chair I was in. There were a few spare seats around that I could see.

Well he did say no problem

This certainly qualifies as a nightmarish scenario. Along with motion sickness bags, perhaps airlines should be equipped with body bags.

Ring said he was seated with the body for around four hours despite other empty seats.

I would probably move to the other seats seeing the passenger next to me can't

There is a private crew rest area with bunks and usually a table and seats. The crew could have put the body in there instead of leaving it in with passengers.

Not an ideal way to fly to Venice.

ianToday  - I would probably move to the other seats seeing the passenger next to me can't

Absolutely right. Surprising that the staff did not offer them to move seats.

wonder why M. Ring didn't move, since there were "a few spare seats around that I could see."

or....

...move to wherever in business class they were intending to place the corpse.....

...and since the deceassed had boarded and found her way to her seat, why was it that after her demise "they couldn't get her through the aisle"...

all very odd.

Only surviving and landing at the destination are important. So this here is still much better than draped oneself afterwards if a usual landing failed in case of accident.

No mention of the person directly behind the deceased, who perhaps unknowingly was just as close as the Rings. I'd have attempted to put the corpse in one of the toilets for the remainder of the flight,

Desert...please enlighten us on how "disrespect ' can be a cause in a legal case. ?

How would damages be determined ?

What injury affecting ones future earning could be established ?

These are real issues in tort law....or is this a breach of contract issue.?

Pretty horrific and a total lack of class and compassion. I'm sure they could have found someplace else away from the passengers, maybe in a lower space. Just goes to show you that even a supposedly high class establishment can be uncaring and make you wonder what they were thinking about in that situation.

People...relax...it is a deceased person...cant bite you...a reminder that death comes for all.

Something is very wrong here, I just can't put my finger on it, or let's just say the captain and the crew should all be CANNED.

I'm not particularly litigious, and I'm pretty thick skinned; I've seen a lot.

But if that was me, all of sudden I'd have PTSD, I'd miss work, I'd have insomnia, I wouldn't be able to eat, and I'd go after them for $30 million dollars.

The bank of seat they were sitting in are save for passages who fall ill during the flight. After take off they move into the bank of seat given up their original seating. The lady die just outside of the toilet and next to the bank of seats save for ill passagers. So this couple quick thinking of scoring a bank of 4 seats so one of them could sleep on the other three seats in comfort back fired. Even so the crew wanted to move the dead lady into a spare business class suit but could not find any help from anyone willing to help move the dead body. If the male offered to help he would not have sat next to the dead body. A deaden don,t worry me and I would have help the crew but this bloke didn't,. Serve themself right.

Very unprofessional! Corpses often poo and pee after death. They should have moved the other passengers into business class. I’m sure I would have made a lot of noise about it and would not have been very happy about being seated next to a corpse.

Lindsay: No These two move from their original seating into the bank of seats meant for ill people during the flight so the ill people don,t poo and pee over others. These two did not offer to help the crew because the lady was huge and over weigh and dead. The crew ( two women) needed a hand but these two just sat there watching on The crew wanted to move her into a business suit which is the procedure when a spare suit is avialable. These two who are complaining brought the situation onto themself by moving into the seats meant for ill people and deny the crew help and just looked on. These two idiots should just stay in their original seat the male would not be made to sit to the dead lady.

Some nice compensation is required here…..crazy from a common sense perspective that this was even allowed to happen unless it was a stupidly packed flight which doesn’t seem to be the case.

You'd think airlines would have clear protocols and training for these situations.

Not Qatar. I've not heard great things about them.

K3PO

Today 03:05 pm JST

You'd think airlines would have clear protocols and training for these situations.

> Not Qatar. I've not heard great things about them.

Unthinkable to think there are no clear protocols.

It's probably standardized for the industry

There is protocols. the two affected was only one and that was the bloke the women got move to a seat across the aisle from the bloke. These two jump from their original seat to a back of four seat reserved for ill people on the flight. Good airlines do this. It is usually the last bank of four seat. These two were seat jumpers. The dead lady was huge like 140KG and the bloke who jumped seats just sat there and look on. So the two women crew could only place her in the nearest seat next to where she died. If the bloke did not jump seats he be still in his original seat with his wife and avoided the dead body. I was the interview and heard this from there mouths. If the bloke was a gentleman and help the two women he would got treated to Business class but he just sat there like a stun mullet the idiot. So don't blame the airline or the crew blame the seat jumper for not stay in. there original seats.

They tried to wheel her up towards business class

If there was space in business class, why didn't they relocate the (living) passengers there?

BB

Today 03:55 pm JST

They tried to wheel her up towards business class

> If there was space in business class, why didn't they relocate the (living) passengers there?

The passengers didn't ask?

And even if they did there were other vacant seats in the section, they'll probably be moved there

If there was space in business class, why didn't they relocate the (living) passengers there?

Seems they'd rather put a corpse up there if possible than two living people who hadn't paid for the upgrade.

@John san

were you on this flight? How do you have all this information? It could have been a very crowded flight with few open seats. I have never seen an empty bank of seats meant for Ill people on any international flight.

At John-san

Can you provide a link for this information? I have looked at lots of other reports and none of them mention this or claim that they were 'seat jumpers'.

I have had experience of this.

Protocol is usually to leave the passenger in situ,cover with blanket,and move adjoining passengers to other available seats.

The male passenger,Mr Ring, initially said that he was happy not to move.

Therefore,the flight crew are not at fault.

Furthermore,it was a Qatar Airways flight.

I am not fully cognisant of Muslim taboos,but perhaps manhandling the corpse of an infidel may contravene certain laws.

Namahage....maybe she was a Muslim and therefore not an "infidel " as you so indelicately mused.

@GuruMick

Fair point,meht.

What to do with a dead passenger on a plane?

If you put it in a washroom, well, that's disrespectful to the dead person's body and family.

Putting it in the crew break area is physically difficult (they are tucked into 'wasted space' up ladders for the most part) and violates safety regulations (cockpit crews have to be given certain hours of uninterrupted breaks).

There's obvious problems with putting a corpse in the food storage and prep areas.

So that leaves a seat in the passenger area. And seeing as, despite being obviously dead, the passenger is technically still a 'medical emergency' and has to be treated as such (absolute priority to get off the plane) a seat close to the regular exit doors.

And, as dead weight, in the tight confines of an airplane, 'class' transitions can be problematic, as in this case, where the crew ATTEMPTED to get the body into the first class area, but we're frustrated in the attempt, and so had to find space in the more crowded area.