Qatar Airways has defended its actions after a woman died on board a flight from Melbourne to Doha and her body was placed next to another passenger for the remainder of the journey
Qatar Airways has responded to an Aussie couple’s claims of being “traumatised” after they were made to sit beside a corpse on their flight. The airline insists that an internal probe showed the staff handled the situation “quickly, appropriately and professionally” following the death of a woman on the Melbourne to Doha journey.
Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were mid-flight to Venice when a woman died next to them. They allege that the crew draped the body in blankets and parked it by Mitchell for the remainder of the four-hour trip.
An attempt was made to shift the body to business class but was foiled by the woman’s size, according to Mitchell. He was asked to give up his seat for the deceased, while Jennifer got a new spot.
However, Mitchell contends he wasn’t offered an alternative seat despite empty ones being available, as reported by the Mirror. Earlier, Qatar Airways had said sorry for “any inconvenience or distress this may have caused”, amid worries about how airlines manage deaths onboard.
The airline maintained that the crew stuck to the book, with their actions “in line with training and industry standard practice”.
“Passengers were accommodated to other seats, and a crew member was sitting at all times with the deceased passenger for the duration of the flight until landing in Doha,” the airline’s statement read. “It is an unfortunate reality that unexpected deaths do sometimes occur on board aircraft across the aviation industry and our crew are highly trained to deal with these situations with as much respect and dignity as possible.”
The airline confirmed that support and compensation has been offered to the woman’s family, as well as to the affected passengers.
Jennifer told Australia’s Channel 9: “We totally understand that we can’t hold the airline responsible for the poor lady’s death, but surely after that there has to be a protocol to look after the customers on board,” Upon landing, Mr Ring said passengers were asked to remain seated while medical staff and police boarded the plane. He described how ambulance officers began removing blankets from the woman, revealing her face.
“I can’t believe they told us to stay,” he expressed, adding that he thought they would have allowed the passengers to disembark before medical staff dealt with the body.
Qatar Airways has been approached for further comment.