this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2025

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514

Couple forced to sit next to dead body on plane for 4 hours after woman dies mid-flight (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

155 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Summary

A couple on a Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne to Doha was forced to sit next to a deceased passenger for four hours after she collapsed and died mid-flight.

The flight crew moved the woman’s body to an empty seat beside them and denied their request to change seats.

Qatar Airways apologized but did not offer the couple support after the incident.

The couple, en route to Venice, criticized the airline’s handling of the situation but are trying to continue their trip despite the distressing experience.

(page 4) 9 comments

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 months ago (15 children)

I mean... it is shit but there isn't a lot to do in this situation.

You might think they should put the body in the bathroom or cargo hold. Actual direct access to the cargo hold during flight is not feasible on most passenger flights due to pressurization/climate and safety concerns. Also, if they don't have enough straps to tie down the body then that is going to be a REALLY bad PR mess when they remove a corpse that had been bouncing around and off of luggage during a landing. And if they do have enough straps, that is a completely different PR mess.

Same for the bathroom. For a 14 hour flight I assume this jet had multiple bathrooms. But you still have the problem of a body that bounced around a bathroom during landing.

Versus? You get it away from the family so they are less traumatized. You then put a blanket on it and buckle it in so that the body is safe.

It would really suck to be the people next to where teh body ended up. But if the flight was full? Having a flight attendant say "Excuse me. Is anyone cool with sitting next to a dead body?" isn't going to end well... and all but guarantees you get the kind of people who shouldn't be allowed near a corpse to volunteer.

MAYBE put them in a flight attendant seat but those tend to be near the galley which has its own health issues. And if it is a flight with sleeping quarters for the crew (likely for a 14 hour flight) that is both a safety concern (crew can't rest) AND all the same "body bouncing around" problems as the others.

As for what Qatar Airways should have done? Personally, I would have just offered the couple a shit ton of miles. A full refund isn't "right" since we have all sat next to things we don't want to (I would honestly rather sit next to a corpse than a morbidly obese person who insists on resting their arms over my body the entire flight...). And general counseling really isn't something the airline has on staff, although it would be nice if they offered to pay for some of it.

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 2 months ago (12 children)

Couldn't have placed the body in the cargo hold or one of the bathrooms? I think passengers wouldn't have minded being one bathroom down.

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 2 months ago (15 children)

I think the only thing they're pissed about is the airline didn't allow them to move seats after they put the woman not in her original seat and probably being forced to stay on the plane longer than needed, potentially missing their connection to Venice, while medics came on board to haul her away.

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[–] [email protected] 165 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (15 children)

Poll:

Would you rather sit next to a dead person or a crying baby for 4 hours on a plane?

Personally, I'd take the dead person.

[–] [email protected] 144 points 2 months ago (8 children)

Keep in mind, dead people evacuate their bowels. It's not a mummy type situation, but more of a sitting next to an open, used by concert goers, porta potty situation.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

A baby is annoying, but they can't really help it. I can blame the parents for bringing a baby on a long flight, but I can't get mad at that shit.

Kids on the other hand. I once had 4 unruly kids sitting on the row behind me and they were insane. It was a relatively short flight (6 hours), so a smaller plane with those really thin seats. The plane had the 3-3 configuration of seats, so mom, dad and the 4 kids took up the entire row.

The kids were between 4 and 12 years old. Dad was in the corner sleeping, not giving a fuck. The two older kids (12 and 9 I think) were playing their Switches on the other side of the aisle next to dad. The two younger kids (4 and 7) were behind me with mom. Mom was in the corner with the smallest kid and they were wild. The 7 year old was constantly smashing against their tray and thus my back, kept kicking directly against my back and screaming all the time. The smallest alternated between laughing loudly and crying (shrieking more like). The smallest also stood on the tray, grabbing at my seat and head, diving in between the seat screaming PEEKABOO at full volume directly in my ear. The smallest one would also like to run in the aisle or visit the other kids, but the other one didn't want to move so the kid snuck in between the other one and my seat.

Mom was trying, but 4 kids on your own is a big ask. About 20 mins before we landed the two younger ones passed out and they were pretty damned cute. But in the end my back hurt, I was exhausted and deaf in one ear.

The annoying part was, the rest of the plane was filled with old people who didn't make a peep all flight, just sat there and read, listened and slept. But we just had to be in the worst place on the plane. Sitting behind kids may be annoying, but at least they don't use your back as a punching bag like when you sit in front of them.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

100% the dead person. I'd rather jump than stay next to the baby.

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