The BBC reports on a recent incident that happened on a Qatar Airways flight. I’ve gotta say, this sounds pretty bad, though given the crew’s failure in handling this proactively, passengers should’ve probably advocated for themselves a bit more…
In this post:
Woman dies on flight, corpse placed next to others
An Australian couple has come forward with a rather traumatic incident that happened recently, while they were traveling on Qatar Airways from Melbourne (MEL) to Doha (DOH) to Venice (VCE).
On the first flight, they were seated in economy near the lavatories. With around four hours remaining in the flight, another passenger died, tragically. This happened while she emerged from one of the lavatories, and she reportedly collapsed in the aisle. The crew responded quickly, but as the husband describes it, “unfortunately the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heart-breaking to watch.”
The crew then reportedly tried to move the woman’s body toward business class, “but she was quite a large lady and they couldn’t get her through the aisle.” As a result, they decided to place her in the seats closest to her location at the time, which happened to be where this couple was seated.
The couple initially had a set of four seats to themselves. The crew asked the husband to move over, so that the corpse could be placed in the aisle seat that he was in, and he complied. So for the remainder of the flight, he sat next to the corpse, which was covered in blankets.
The wife ended up moving to another seat, as a nearby passenger encouraged her to move, given the situation. Meanwhile the husband says he wasn’t given the same option of doing so, even though there were other vacant seats.
Upon landing, passengers were asked to remain seated, while police and medical staff came onboard. At this point, blankets were pulled off the woman, so she was exposed.
The couple understandably doesn’t appreciate how this situation was handled, with the wife explaining that “we totally understand that we can’t hold the airline responsible for the poor lady’s death, but there has to be a protocol to look after the customers on board.”
In a statement, Qatar Airways said the following:
“First and foremost our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight. We apologise for any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused, and are in the process of contacting passengers in line with our policies and procedures.”
Below you can see an interview with the couple about what happened.
This is a tricky situation, but should’ve been handled better
Deaths onboard planes happen more often than most people would think. Handling these situations can of course be tricky, with finding the right balance between being able to continue the flight, while isolating the deceased and minimizing inconvenience for other passengers.
Back in the day, Singapore Airlines had a “corpse cupboard” on its Airbus A340-500s, which operated the world’s longest flights. This was intended exactly for situations like this. However, other planes don’t generally have this.
So the procedure is typically to try to find a spot to place the body that minimizes inconvenience for others, whether that’s in the galley, in a blocked off lavatory, or in a row of seats away from others. In this case, it seems like one of the challenges was the weight of the deceased passenger, and being able to move her body.
Obviously it sounds like this situation should’ve been handled better. However, what’s not clear is whether the couple actually asked the crew to have their seats moved. There’s talk of the crew asking the man to move over so the body could be accommodated, but no talk of him asking about moving seats, and the request being denied.
Don’t get me wrong, it should have been obvious to the crew to offer this, so I don’t understand where the breakdown was. But it goes without saying that if there were open seats (which there seemed to me, given that the wife only moved at the invitation of another passenger, rather than due to the crew’s recommendation), the passengers should’ve proactively been moved to them. And if the only open seats were in business class (which, it doesn’t sound like that was the case), then the passengers should even be moved there.
Bottom line
Deaths onboard flights happen quite often, and it’s no doubt a challenging situation for both crew and passengers. On a recent Qatar Airways flight, a woman died shortly after using the lavatory, and collapsed in the aisle. Due to challenges with moving the body, the crew placed her in the closest row of seats, which happened to be occupied.
Rather than moving the passengers seated there to other empty seats, the crew instead just asked them to move over a couple of seats, and sit next to the corpse. This sounds like it could’ve been handled very differently…
What do you make of this odd Qatar Airways incident?
QR crew has become quite poor in my experience. Not proactive and miserable. So this doesn't surprise me.
Oh seriously, this Karen has more issues than Vogue. Sadly in my country, people of this age are the most demanding, entitled, selfish, illogical, luke-warm IQ morons imaginable. Do they not have a voice to speak up at the time? How also, can they get to that age and not have seen a dead body? If the guy needs, “to see someone”, then go see someone! You’re a bloody grown man, son, and if you...
Oh seriously, this Karen has more issues than Vogue. Sadly in my country, people of this age are the most demanding, entitled, selfish, illogical, luke-warm IQ morons imaginable. Do they not have a voice to speak up at the time? How also, can they get to that age and not have seen a dead body? If the guy needs, “to see someone”, then go see someone! You’re a bloody grown man, son, and if you can afford a trip to Italy, you can afford a few sessions at a shrink whilst you’re there. There is also no way I can believe that the QR FAs would have actually denied them seating elsewhere. I smell BS so strong it is positively nuclear. Also, this show is considered so utterly declasse down here in Australia that it is not watched by anyone other than the completely brain-dead.
I have been in situations where I would have gladly preferred sitting next to a corpse rather than the drunken, obnoxious, or downright creepy passengers I have had the displeasure of being seated next to.
Working as I did as a flight attendant with Pan Am which was almost exclusively long haul flying, this situation was something that we did train for. Back in the day it was rare , sadly very rare, for us to have a full flight on a 747. So placing a person across 4 seats in main cabin would not have been a problem. No, I never personally encountered a death in flight but had...
Working as I did as a flight attendant with Pan Am which was almost exclusively long haul flying, this situation was something that we did train for. Back in the day it was rare , sadly very rare, for us to have a full flight on a 747. So placing a person across 4 seats in main cabin would not have been a problem. No, I never personally encountered a death in flight but had co-workers who did. Corpses NEVER go in a lav or a galley. From what I am gleaning from this story is that the crew should have been pro-active in offering the couple alternate seating even if it meant separating them for a few hours. A bad situation for everyone involved not the least the deceased family.
Why was it so "SADLY, very rare" for you to have a full flight on your Pan Am 747 long haul - if the flights were not full then surely you would have been delighted to have had a bit more freedom to swan around and engage with your passengers with so much more good customer service and professional delight and charm?
So much sympathy for the family of the deceased, for the crew, and all the passengers. What a horrifying situation.
As a physician, we prefer saying the "deceased" to "corpse."
I can tell that you are not from Wisconsin. Gov. Evers would have you refer the deceased to "Metaphysically Challenged"
This couple completely missed the opportunity to ask for an upgrade to business class. It sounds like there was at least one empty seat in J considering that's where the crew was hoping to move the deceased.
Gives a whole new dimension to dying on the upgrade list.
Nothing saps any goodwill from a statement of this kind like ending it with, "...in line with our policies and procedures."
Hello, cog! Welcome to the machine.
26 post on this subject but only one work brain amongst the lot of you …. thank goodness that your brain is functioning succinctly Ben.
No condolences for the family of the deceased.
No commiserations for the passengers and crew affected by the tragedy.
Poor show folks, poor show.
Oh get over it Karen. Can you hear me from your high horse?
Older, less experienced travellers sometimes do odd things. I was in coach recently on a long-haul flight that was only about 30% full. After take-off everyone else got up and moved to spare seats to give themself more room or even lie down in an empty row of 4. However an elderly couple sitting in the last row of 3 by the toilets stayed rooted to the window and middle seat for 11 hours! Hubby...
Older, less experienced travellers sometimes do odd things. I was in coach recently on a long-haul flight that was only about 30% full. After take-off everyone else got up and moved to spare seats to give themself more room or even lie down in an empty row of 4. However an elderly couple sitting in the last row of 3 by the toilets stayed rooted to the window and middle seat for 11 hours! Hubby didn't even move to the empty aisle seat next to him. They looked desperate the whole way, sitting bolt-upright next to the toilet and constantly disturbed by light/noise from the galley area. I dunno if they were too scared to move from their assigned seats or what....? They looked absolutely shattered on landing.
Not saying these two QR travellers were just as naïve or are angling for some cash as others have intimated earlier.
I have zero sympathy for these people. All the husband had to do was ask to be moved to a different seat if he was so bothered by it. And what is the drama with seeing the face of a dead person? These are grown up people who are acting traumatized to extract money from Qatar or Qantas.
What is the person wasn't dead and just in a deep coma? It's been known to happen before. I've read confirmed reports of "dead" people being taken to the morgue only to wake up later. It does happen. They should have declared an in-flight emergency and landed. Period. This was a health emergency.
What if * ...
The only person in a “deep coma” is the author of the above comment.
There are multiple cases of people being presumed deceased.
IATA recommendations https://www.iata.org/contentassets/ccbdc54681c24574bebf2db2b18197a5/death-on-board-guidelines.pdf
To add, iata recommends NOT covering the head /face.
https://www.iata.org/contentassets/ccbdc54681c24574bebf2db2b18197a5/death-on-board-guidelines.pdf
Always ask if u want something. The world doesn’t owe u any favors and the cabin crew were prolly distressed as well.
But don’t go on TV and start yapping about it if you have done nothing during the incident!
Blame the IFM/IFS/cabin director if you must.
Thank you! …but it seems the couple was building a case for them to go after Qatar as hard as they can.
I’m guessing the end result due to this couple playing the game and building their case by not doing the reasonable thing…employees get fired??
Really, the wife seems genuinely upset - not everyone wants to “sue” someone to get something , that’s only prevalent in certain countries which we won’t mention
Neither passenger was offered the option to move. Other passengers encouraged the wife. The husband could have followed but chose not to. Should a member of the cabin crew offered to move, sure.
The remains of the deceased do not belong in a lavatory or galley. Their is no way to secure a person in a lavatory and the could fall potentially jamming the door; it could also be seen as disrespecting the corpse. As...
Neither passenger was offered the option to move. Other passengers encouraged the wife. The husband could have followed but chose not to. Should a member of the cabin crew offered to move, sure.
The remains of the deceased do not belong in a lavatory or galley. Their is no way to secure a person in a lavatory and the could fall potentially jamming the door; it could also be seen as disrespecting the corpse. As for the galley, food is prepared there and should be the last option only if the cabin is full. The goal is to always attempt to secure the corpse in a seat and have them lying flat.
If airlines could ever figure the overhead bin situation and the excessive amount of carry-ons, there would be a place for the deceased.
Move her into business class with a hat and sunglasses and tell everyone too much to drink, weekend at Bernie’s style.
The couple could have advocated for themselves a little bit. The crews’ attempt to move the body to biz class at first indicates there were some empty seats there, so the couple could have asked to move up there in exchange for giving up their seats in coach. I’m sure Qatar would have been accommodating if they had asked.
Probably shook up the family of the dead person! No empathy
They did not say anything .. me me me. Selfish b--s .
Going on TV, crying . Disgusting people and money grabbers
Where do they expect to pout her body?? in the toilet ? They followed protocol .. it is juts they are ignorant
Exposed to her body ... selfish morons
Two Oh My’s in less than a day!
Obviously a tragic and sad situation for everyone involved. An airplane aisle outside the lavatory is no place to die. I won’t lie though, the mental image of a few flight attendants struggling to lift this large woman before collectively deciding “f*ck it, just throw her in the closest seat” made me chuckle. Sounds like a scene out of Family Guy
If the couple had a row of 4 seats to themselves and one of them was moved with the corpse being on the other side, it sounds like there was two empty seats between the corpse and the passenger. Distance wise that is further than the distance between the next passenger across the aisle, and the person sitting directly in front or behind.
Yes ideally they would have moved both passengers, but two empty seats between may have been considered enough.
I couldn’t figure this out either. With 4 seats to themselves, if they decided to sit together that would put at least 1 free seats between the man and the corpse. As she moved, there should’ve been at least 2 seats.
Yeah, I don't care if there's a seat or two between me and the body, I'd rather not be in the same row and section as a corpse and it's entirely reasonable that they should have been moved. Apparently there was space in business class?
How come the cadaver wasn't placed on a jump seat or pilot's sleep quarters?
@ JoeMart -- I'd assume the body wasn't placed in the crew rest facility because the crew needed that to get rest. Regarding a jump seat, I have to imagine that this could cause a safety issue, in case of an evacuation.
I would assume - regardless of availability - that the crews rest area would be much more tricky to deposite a heavy cropse into than the business class which they apparently tried first.
so what's the full story? what did she die of? age? all that is going around the news is this couple's discomfort.
@ Carl -- That hasn't been revealed one way or another, since people often die on planes, and the unusual aspect to this story is how it was handled by the crew.
@carl- does it matter? Are you an investigator?
Why is this a news?
Where they supposed to place her? The flight is completely full.
Do they have empathy to a dead body?
Disgusting behaviour making it a headline.
@ Tim IN NY -- I think you didn't read the post. The issue here is that there *were* empty seats.
Timiny crickets! Aquatint yourself with this saying, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt"
"Meanwhile the husband says he wasn’t given the same option of doing so, even though there were other vacant seats".
Doesn't he have a voice?