An Australian couple spoke of the “traumatic” moment that the body of a dead passenger was placed next to them on a flight from Qatar Airways.
Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin, who went to Venice for a dream vacation, told Australia Channel 9 that a woman died in the aisle next to them during the flight from Melbourne to Doha.
The couple says that the cabin crew placed their corpse, covered with covers, next to Mr. Ring during the remaining four hours of the flight without offering to move it, although there are empty seats.
Qatar Airways said he apologized for “any disadvantage or distress that this incident may have caused”, adding that he was contacting passengers.
The couple said they had not been contacted or offered support by Qatar Airways or Qantas, the airline by which they reserved the flight.
They said there should be a protocol to make sure that passengers on board were supported in such situations.
Mr. Ring told Channel Nine Current liaison program These staff replied “in no time” when the woman collapsed, but “unfortunately, the lady could not be saved, which was quite heartbreaking to look”.
He said that the cabin crew had tried to move his body to business class “but that she was a great lady and that they could not make her pass the aisle”.
Mr. Ring said the crew had seen seats available next to him.
“They said,” Can you move around? “And I just said:” Yes no of problem “.
“Then they placed the lady on the chair in which I was.”
While Ms. Colin was able to move to an empty seat nearby, Mr. Ring said that he had not had the opportunity to do so by the cabin crew – even if there were vacant seats.
When the plane landed four hours later, he said that the passengers were invited to stay in place while the medical staff and the police expressed on board.
He said that the ambulance agents had then started to remove the women’s blankets and that he had seen his face.
The couple said there should be a “duty of diligence” for customers and staff.
“We must be contacted to make sure, do you need support, do you need advice?”
Ms. Colin called the “traumatic” experience and said: “We totally understand that we cannot hold the airline responsible for the death of poor Lady, but there must be a protocol to take care of customers on board . “
In a press release, Qatar Airways said: “First and foremost, our thoughts concern the passenger family who unfortunately died on our flight.
“We apologize for any drawback or distress that this incident may have caused and we are contacting passengers in accordance with our policies and procedures.”
A spokesperson for Qantas said: “The incident management process on an airplane like this is managed by the operational airline, which in this case is Qatar Airways.”
Barry Eustance, a former captain of the Virgin Atlantic, said that deaths in the air “occur more frequently than people did not think it”, but that to the extent that he was aware that there was no specific protocol in place for such situations.
“On a long-haul flight, it tends to depend on the moment when it occurs and when it occurs and what the crew has in terms of installations to place the body somewhere because in an aircraft , there is no access to the hold, there is a rest area of the crew but it is for the crew, so it can be problematic.
A toilet area or a kitchen could be blocked, he said, but the crew is required to keep a number of toilets available.
Mr. EUSTANCE said that, although he did not judge because he did not know the full situation, it was surprised that the crew did not move Mr. Ring if there had been spare seats.
“I would expect the crew to do everything they could to avoid this. You create potential future liabilities in terms of people’s trauma next to whom the body was placed,” he declared.
“According to my experience, the crew would normally try to isolate the body, there is therefore no exposure to passengers to the body and vice versa, for respect and privacy but also for medical reasons. You have a corpse that is not contained and everything that goes with it. “
