How would you feel about this on a plane

[eyeeyeeyeeyeeye]

Couple made to sit next to a dead body of a lady who died onboard

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It’s appalling on a number of counts, including risk of infection if you don’t know what the individual sadly died from. Normal airline protocol in such situations is to close one of the toilets for the duration of the flight and use that space.

The husband said in the interview that airline staff were not able to move the body to business class using the trolley chair - so moving it to the bathroom would also have not been possible.

If the woman died of something infectious... well, she was already on the flight for ten hours. I am not a doctor but I think most infections would be picked up more easily from a living than a dead person, unless you physically touch the dead person.

I don’t accept that it would not be possible for the cred to move the deceased to the nearest WC. It’s morbid, but cabin crew are trained for such eventualities.

I’m not a doctor either and l suspect you’re right, but from my lack of medical knowledge l still think there could be a risk from when the deceased was still alive and, where possible that area should have been cleared where possible.

I don’t accept that it would not be possible for the cred to move the deceased to the nearest WC. It’s morbid, but cabin crew are trained for such eventualities.

OK. I am going on what the passenger, who was there (and is the one raising the complaint about his seating), said in his interview. Crew brought the trolley seat, put the woman into it but were unable to move her.

Possibly one of the reasons would be that moving her through the cabin would have entailed her body coming into physical contact with passengers seated on the aisle.

One of my ex bosses sat next to a dead body on a plane. He tried for compensation/etc but actually he worked in Forensics so should have been more used to that than other people!!!

I was crew for 20+ years and we were told to absolutely not put a body in the toilet. (People did suggest it during the discussions about what to do) If you can’t understand why you wouldn’t just for reasons of dignity and respect for the deceased and the relatives, then imagine if the aircraft hit severe turbulence- that body is unsecured in the toilet and could easily knock the (flimsy) toilet door off its frame and become something that moves and hurts passengers. Imagine how horrific that would be. The best place for it is secured in a seat.

I respect your judgement if you have been in the industry that long, but as you know sudden warm air turbulence can happen with no seat belt signs on. If toilet doors were that flimsy, wouldn’t there be a risk of it happening when a living individual was in there.

Not crew but... a living person can grab the basin, brace against the walls etc!!

Helpful response. It was a genuine question, l wasn’t trying to argue with what you were saying. x

How are people not understanding this..
She died in the aisle
Too heavy to carry
So undignified being bent into a toilet unstrapped plus prevents passengers using it
Of course covered in a blanket is a seat is best. They need to get the fuck over it and stop acting like she's some decomposed corpse. It's someones loved one

Absolutely this. It's just another example of the way the world it becoming much more me, me , me without being willing for other people's needs to impact on their own.

Years ago I was on a flight between a young unaccompanied boy and an elderly man. Mid flight the man collapsed. A doctor was found, declared there was no heart beat and began chest compressions in the aisle until the plane was close to landing. I was asked to take the doctor's seat so he could sit next to the now very obviously dead man and continue cpr. Both had to wear their seatbelts for landing and the young boy had to remain where he was because there were no free seats. The poor lad must have been so traumatised.

I've never been in that situation but, apart from feeling very sorry for the person who had passed away, I wouldn't be too bothered. I certainly wouldn't be complaining about it, how disrespectful.

Yes obviously it could happen when a live person is in the washroom too. I was on a flight with bad turbulence once where the door fell off without anyone in it. As previously mentioned, a living person can try to grab hold of something or brace.

Another issue is that the person would very likely slide onto the floor area, and most aircraft doors fold inwards, so it would be impossible to open the door (happens a lot with aircraft bins falling over in turbulence). Even more indignity. You have to kind of imagine it was someone you loved.

Some of the jumbos had a crew rest area with a row of seats downstairs- that was always somewhere we’d try to get a body discreetly out of sight if we could (not that I ever experienced a death onboard). But modern planes tend to have tiny areas up ladders for crew rest. With a bit of luck you have a spare seat or two to play with, but on a full flight everyone has to put up with a variety of situations that arise -sickness, disruptive passengers, restrained passengers etc.
ps, I’m no longer in the industry.

Nope there isn’t “usually somewhere bodies can be put” if someone dies onboard an aircraft they have to be secured in their seat for landing. They can’t just shove them in a galley or leave them on the floor 🙄 The pax should have been moved IF there were empty seats, but if flights are full then unfortunately someone will be sat next to the deceased person. My sympathies to the family of the lady, the crew who had to deal with this yet still carry out their duties and the pax who had to witness it. Not a nice situation all round really.

I know! It’s a struggle to find somewhere for all the baggage, let alone a body. And while crew at one end of the plane are trying to deal with this sad scenario you can guarantee passengers at the other end are going max that they haven’t had their call bell answered quick enough.

I wouldn't mind

They probably much easier ti sit next to then other passengers 😂

I do think there should be a small curtained off area as it seems situations like this are not rare. A small private area could be useful in other circumstances too. I once developed food poisoning on a flight and had to sit next to strangers whilst vomiting as the seatbelt signs were on and I was not allowed to leave my seat. Embarrassing for me but awful for my neighbours, especially as I could have had something contagious (I didn’t as it turned out)

@Dontshootthemessengers some stats are posted up thread, but death on a plane is very rare in the context of number of flights globally every day.

@eyeeyeeyeeyeeye why didnt they put her in her own seat??

Because she collapsed and died in the aisle leaving the bathroom, crew tried and failed to revive her, they got a trolley chair to move her forward but were unable to do so. Therefore they put her in the nearest seat to where she died.

How would putting her back in her own seat have avoided the issue of someone sitting on a row with a dead body anyway? It would just have been a different someone.

@SheilaFentiman at least she would have been with her relatives. in saying that, I have been on a plane to oz where the passenger across the aisle needed continues o2 therapy after the first 30 minutes of flight. that woman should not have ever been on a plane and I doubt she even had travel insurance. no insurance would ever think she was a good risk!! I think airlines should ask to see evidence of insurance before someone is allowed to fly with any health conditions. I had to move so they could put the oxygen on my seat.

@allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld it is not clear that she was flying with relatives, unless you have seen that somewhere?

Doesn’t solve the problem that they were unable to move the body in the confined space.

In any event, I think the only thing the crew did wrong here was not taking a couple more minutes to try and move the husband and wife, as there were apparently other seats. If the dead woman had had family on the flight, they could have been moved to sit with her, if they chose. But it was a very rare situation and the crew did a lot right, so still a lot of praise for them.

I doubt airlines could do that (re insurance) unless it was international law to do so. It would be discriminatory. Additionally - the person on your flight may indeed have had very expensive travel insurance, which then would not have changed your situation.

@Dontshootthemessengers

I do think there should be a small curtained off area as it seems situations like this are not rare.

It is rare in terms of deaths on board per x thousand flights (see the stats and also anecdata from some who have worked in industry upthread), so the airlines are not likely to go too far with special arrangements.

Every cubic foot of inhabitable volume on an airliner is accounted for these days and if volume can be used for seats that can get sold to make money it gets used for seats.

As a result over the years things like galleys have got smaller, storages removed, even toilets smaller or removed (witness the rear galley/toilet arrangement space on some Airbus Neos …).

I'm pretty sure an elderly lady behind me died on a flight from London to Chicago. But she was little and she disappeared somewhere more discrete. I think they moved her in the night to the back seats and then her family stayed on at the end. And some were waiting outside when we got off as well. Because it was a red eye flight I didn't see it all which is why there's some hazy parts of my memory.