Trauma experienced by a couple when their body was placed next to them on plane

Trauma experienced by a couple when their body was placed next to them on a plane 
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 A Current Affair On a Qatar Airways aircraft, an Australian couple described the "traumatic" moment when a dead passenger's body was laid next to them. While on a dream vacation in Venice, Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin told Australia's Channel 9 that a woman had passed away on the aisle next to them on the aircraft from Melbourne to Doha. The pair claims that even though the plane was empty, the cabin crew left her body, wrapped in blankets, next to Mr. Ring for the final four hours of the flight without offering to relocate him seats.

Qatar Airways said it apologised for "any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused", adding that it was in the process of contacting passengers.


The couple said they had not been contacted or offered support by Qatar Airways or Qantas, the airline through which they booked the flight.

They said there should be a protocol to ensure passengers onboard were looked after in such situations.

'Duty of care'
Mr Ring told Channel Nine's Current Affair programme that staff had responded "in no time" when the woman collapsed, but that "unfortunately the lady couldn't be saved, which was pretty heart-breaking to watch".

He said the cabin crew had tried to move her body towards business class "but she was quite a large lady and they couldn't get her through the aisle".
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Mr Ring said the crew had seen seats were available beside him.

"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."

While Ms Colin was able to move to an empty seat nearby, Mr Ring said he had not been given the option to do so by cabin crew - even though there were vacant seats.

When the plane landed four hours later, he said passengers were asked to stay put while medical staff and police came on board.

He said ambulance officers had then started pulling blankets off the woman and he had seen her face.


The couple said there needed to be a "duty of care" for customers and staff.

"We should be contacted to make sure, do you need some support, do you need some counselling?"

Ms Colin called the experience "traumatic" and said: "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: "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."

A Qantas spokesperson said: "The process for handling incidents onboard an aircraft like this is managed by the operating airline, which in this case is Qatar Airways."

Barry Eustance, a former Virgin Atlantic captain, said deaths in the air "occur more frequently than people would think" but said as a far as he was aware there was no specific protocol in place for such situations.

"On a long haul flight it tends to depend largely on when it occurs and where it occurs and what the crew have in terms of facilities to place the body somewhere because on an aeroplane, there's no access to the hold, there's a crew rest area but that's for the crew so it can be problematical."

A toilet area or galley area could be blocked off, he said, but the crew are required to keep a certain number of toilets available.


Mr. Eustance stated that he was shocked that the crew did not move Mr. Ring if there had been extra seats, but he was not passing judgment because he was unaware of the whole circumstances."I would anticipate that the crew would take every precaution to prevent that. Because of the anguish experienced by those who were adjacent to the body, you are putting yourself at risk for future liabilities," he stated."In my experience, for privacy and respect as well as medical concerns, the crew would typically attempt to segregate the body so that passengers are not exposed to it and vice versa. You have an uncontained dead body and everything that goes with it.

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