Passengers say they were stuck for four hours at their seats next to a dead body on a Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne to Doha, after a woman who died inflight was placed in the seat next to them.
The deceased passenger collapsed in the aisle after coming out of the restroom and could not be revived. Crew tried to move her in a wheelchair to an empty business class seat, but couldn’t make it down the aisle. So they placed her in an empty seat beside other passengers – who say they were told not to move elsewhere in the cabin. And they had to see the woman’s face when blankets covering her were removed on arrival when medical personnel boarded the aircraft.
These passengers say they are traumatized and complain that the airline hasn’t provided them with counseling. According to Qatar Airways,
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.
When someone dies inflight, and there’s no doctor on board to declare it, are they really dead? And what do you do with the body?
- If the flight isn’t full, crew can move the deceased to an empty row of seats (ideally) or move the passengers who were sitting nearby to other seats. But flights are sometimes full!
- When Singapore Airlines used to operate the Airbus A340, it had a compartment known colloquially as the ‘corpse cupboard’ where a body could be placed and strapped in. The airline says it was never actually used for that purpose (it’s rare that this happens!) before the aircraft left their fleet.
- It doesn’t make sense to use the lavatory for this. The passenger might slide off the toilet at touchdown and wind up on the floor. What if the lavatory door opens inward, how would you even get them out then?
A couple of years ago, a British Airways passenger ranted that when a passenger died on board she wasn’t served her second meal – crew couldn’t make it down the aisle while CPR was being performed there
For a long-haul, widebody flight like this, why not stick the body in the crew rest area?
Wouldn’t there be a crew rest area? Not optimal but better than sticking next to passengers. I have to wonder at what point does a dead body start to “decompose?”
finally, a passenger who won’t complain if you recline your chair and take up more than your share of space. Why are they complaining?
Surely, they should have made an emergency landing. This a health emergency.
If they couldn’t move her in a wheelchair why didn’t they carry her to a remote seat? An awful situation, and you know when people die their bowels often…well, from what I have read it isn’t pretty. And George, I’m not a physician but decomposing does take some time, say (from what I’ve read) a day for the internal organs. But rigor mortis can set in after 3+ hours, so a 4 hour flight that might get dicey.
Incidentally, cruise ships carry coffins too. A friend of my mother was on such a trip with her husband when he died and they kept him refrigerated in the hold. Unfortunately when they got home it was during one of those government shutdowns and he was stored (again, refrigerated) on the dock for a month until she could get a federal death certificate. What a mess.
Who gets her miles?
Wow, tough situation. Qatar Airways was dead wrong on this, there may have been 3 reasonable options: 1) Declare an Air Emergency onboard and land (as @FNT Delta Diamond had pointed out); 2) Decommission one of the aft lavs and put the body in there (so what if the door jams, maintenance can get it open upon arrival); 3) Assuming that it meets regulations, have one of the active FA’s give up their Jump Seat for the Body, as the aft Galley Jump Seats tend to be spaced apart. As for your question, Gary, it’s hilarious !!! “When someone dies inflight, and there’s no doctor on board to declare it, are they really dead?” Yes of course they are, the Death Certificate from the ME is delayed, however.
Not great for anyone involved.
@Ron — Oh, I think they’d complain about ‘the smells’ (@drrichard knows).
@FNT Delta Diamond — I read the incident occurred 10 hours-in from Melbourne to Doha, so they were likely midway over the Indian Ocean… not too many options (Male, Mahe, or just proceeding to Doha). Knowing Qatar, they probably felt more ‘in-control’ sticking with their headquarters.
@dwondermeant — Probably next of kin can make a claim, but there are bigger issues to deal with (properly identifying and notifying, repatriating the body, etc.–not fun.
@1900
I’m not saying they should divert, but maybe they could have diverted to Goa.
With empty seats, the cabin crew should have cleared out the area next to the dead body. I don’t really see a good excuse for not doing that. Of course, anyone who wanted to stay in their seat, could do so. The person who was not moved should have complained to the purser and if that didn’t work, the flight deck crew. Or go stay in the lavatory for the rest of the flight. Again, I don’t see any excuse for placing the body next to another passenger with seats available. Putting the body in a business class seat would have also been a bit nuts. Sometimes people have very contagious pneumonia when they die so anyone getting near them should have on a medical gown and a high quality mask.
I was up front for a flight from Heathrow to JFK many years ago and an elderly, somewhat frail gentleman was seated in 2A while I was across the aisle. He was seated and then an oxygen canister was hooked up to his, complete with a nasal cannula. Yup, two hours into the flight I happened to see his head drop markedly forward. I called for an FA and pointed to him. The purser looked worried after giving the man the once over. The pilot asked if there were any physicians aboard, no apparent passengers were Doctors or nurses. The gentleman had passed and the FA draped a blanket over the poor guy and turned off his machine. Upon landing the pilot announced that a passenger had passed away and asked everyone to let medical responders and police to board at the gate. Everyone was quiet, respectful, and subdued. The deceased man was stretchered off, then we all deplaned, I wonder if there would be such respectful conduct today.
@Rico — Goa’s a fine idea. Depending on their routing that day, Colombo could have worked as well. Good food, nice beaches, friendly people. There are worse spots out there, for sure.
Okay all you experts. The reason they didn’t declare a medical emergency and land was because:
1. the passenger was deceased, there is no lifesaving to be done.
2. As there was no doctor aboard to declare death, landing can be very inconvenient for the passengers that are still alive. A number of jurisdictions will impound the aircraft as a crime scene until the cause of death can be ascertained.
The crew did CPR and was not successful. Landing at that point would be pointless. One dead non complaining passenger or 300 live Karen’s. Take your pick.
Stick to your posts on FF programs, and airline lounges.
@Pilot93434 — Well, you’ve included ‘Pilot’ in your name, so you must know. It’s settled everyone! Halt the presses!
(You’re probably right, but you gotta admit, not ‘great’ for those that had to sit next to the body…what no comment about a better ‘storage’ location? C’mon, speculate with us!)
So what a dead body? It was not decomposed or had maggots.
tl;dr. Listen you got the transportation. Get a grip.
A couple thoughts. If the deceased could not be moved up to a business class seat, why not relocate the other living passengers in the economy row to business so the deceased could have the row alone.
Also, once we die, our muscles relax meaning often, human waste can not be held back from leaving the body, so the smell could be rather appalling.