BA apologises after dumping dead body in first class: reports

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 3/18/07 | AFP

[NormsRevenge]

LONDON (AFP) - British Airways has apologised after placing the body of a woman who died three hours into a London-New Delhi flight in a vacant first-class seat, media reports said Monday.

After the elderly woman died, the flight's cabin crew moved her from her economy class seat into a vacant first class seat, strapped her in with a seatbelt and propped her up with pillows.

Her daughter was given a vacant seat next to her, and reportedly spent most of the remaining five-odd hours of the flight wailing and in tears.

A passenger seated nearest to the corpse, identified by the Daily Mirror only as Paul, told the paper of how the crew had not informed him that the woman had died mid-flight.

"I went to the galley and said, 'She doesn't look too well'," the 54-year-old businessman told the Mirror.

"The crew told me, 'We put out a call to the doctor but it was too late. She's expired.'"

He added that "because of turbulence it (the body) kept slipping down on to the floor. It was horrific."

A spokesman for BA was quoted by the Mirror as saying: "We apologise, but our crew were working in difficult circumstances and chose the option they thought would cause least disruption."

According to The Guardian, about 10 people a year die on BA flights, and the airline acted in a similar fashion when an American traveller died half-way through a six-hour London-Boston flight in November.

The man was covered with a blanket and strapped into a reclining first-class seat.

[stinkerpot65]

Too good to pass up.

[pillut48]

Oh, I can't believe you went there...;-)

[AnotherUnixGeek]

I've been on a lot of flights that made me wish I was dead, but still, what a terrible way to go.

[Billthedrill]

Yeppers, that Chekhov, one big bundle of chuckles. I doubt it'd be anything so romantic as a shark, though. Mostly small marine wildlife like the stuff you see in SpongeBob Squarepants...

In any case, my idea really isn't that practical, I guess. For one thing cannonballs are heavy and you'd have to explain to the passengers that they're only for the dead bodies. I don't see how you could work that happily into the pre-flight greetings even with free peanuts. Well, maybe on Jet Blue...

[July 4th]

Maybe airlines should start packing body bags.

If I recall, the new Airbus A380 has a body locker, i.e. a "morgue for one."

[lepton]

am not sure of this, but isn't there access to the luggage bay from within the plane? Atleast some sort of an intermediary, hermetic containment area? Surely this isn't a rocket-science problem!

And if a live person gets locked in there? Like if the non-doctors make a mistake and they aren't really dead (As frequently happens in nursing homes)?

[rogator]

"Seems a reasonable solution to me.

Other options would be leaving her prone in an aisle ( evacuation hazard ) or maybe tossin her into bagage which seems wrong somehow.

The death was tragic and traumatic on those around her but BA can't change that."

I believe there is some extra space in the cockpit. That would reduce the passemger trauma.

[dk/coro]

Reminds me of my old, but true, Fairbanks, Alaska story about the Coast Guard Recruiter flying with Jack Stallings from Fairbanks to Bethel in a small cabin aircraft in the dead of winter.

Dead man strapped in the cabin -- and the Recruiter told Jack that he offered him a cup of coffee in the pitch-black cabin -- only to presume the dead man was "sleeping".

Stallings casually thanked the Recruiter and told him "the rest of the story": He was flying the corpse home to Bethel to be buried (in the Spring); and that the corpse had been dead for 10 days or so. *S*

Just another early morning flight in Fairbanks in February.
Outside temp was probably 30-40 below. (Been there for a three-year pipeline-project in the mid '70's. Stallings was a close personal friend.)

[skr]

It wasn't horrific for the woman but for the daughter and the other passengers to see. Perhaps the airlines should invest in a support that can be strapped to a body before belting it into its seat.

The flight crew did what was best under the circumstances given the few options they had. Space is often at a premium, so unless they sacrifice a closed area that can hold a body and perhaps a seat for a loved one who might prefer to stay with the deceased, it's unlikely that anything will change.

[Dad yer funny]

.. I was crew on sailboat deliveries NY - West Palm,Miami

Wilmington , NC was a fave stop , .. one time , there was a hearse parked near the Party Fishing boats , .. we found out later that night , .. a guy dropped dead when they had just reached their spot , way out

... so , not to ruin everyone else's day , they just put him below , on ice

.. they didn't stay out for the normal length of time , but they DIDn't turn right around , and head back

( on another note ) ,.. I always liked Wilmington , they had that 24hr fish market , at the docks , .. and that restaurant ,.. The Sanitary [??] ,.. or The Hygenic [??] ,.. I think the Hygenic was in New London , Ct ,.. but I digress ,.. sorry folks

[MoochPooch]

I don't see how you could work that happily into the pre-flight greetings even with free peanuts. Well, maybe on Jet Blue...

Funny, I was just thinking . . . what if this had been on Jet Blue?

[Politicalmom]

"The secret's in the sauce."


*Humbly apologizes for Fried Green Tomatoes quote..*

[Old Student]

"I saw that Jody Foster movie about airplanes--they couldn't store this poor dead woman in the hold or something til they arrived at their destination? "

I don't know of any commercial airliner that has access to the cargo compartments while in flight. All access is available only from outside the aircraft, and you only want those doors open on the ground. Really!

[Desron13]

You would think that the pilot would simply make a tactful announcement and that would suffice. I guess I just don't understand what all the fuss is about.

[verum ago]

NASA's curve for temp. is 59- .00356Xaltitude (in feet), which gives about -69 F at 36000 ft. Makes sense, as the stratosphere is generally considered to start right around that altitude and the most common listed temperature for it is -70.

[kimmie7]

OMGoodness, I forgot about Aunt Edna! Now that's the way to go! LOL LOL LOL

[kimmie7]

Oh man, I hate that this happened and feel for the family, but "she's expired"! What was she, milk????

I believe "joined the choir invisible " is more tactful that "she expired"!

LOL

Thanks for plowing the road for me.......

[ridesthemiles]

Couldn't you just chuck 'em? I mean, at sea we used to cover them with a flag and play taps before turning the dear departed into fish food. Trust me, they didn't care."

Somehow, I don't think that you were in a PRESSUEIZED situation on a ship at sea level.

Besides, how could anyone just dispose of a body without the authorities doing an autopsy and the family being notified as th their wishes for the disposal of the dead person?

[ridesthemiles]

Couldn't you just chuck 'em? I mean, at sea we used to cover them with a flag and play taps before turning the dear departed into fish food. Trust me, they didn't care."

Somehow, I don't think that you were in a PRESSURIZED situation on a ship at sea level.

Besides, how could anyone just dispose of a body without the authorities doing an autopsy and the family being notified as th their wishes for the disposal of the dead person?

[ridesthemiles]

Couldn't you just chuck 'em? I mean, at sea we used to cover them with a flag and play taps before turning the dear departed into fish food. Trust me, they didn't care."

Somehow, I don't think that you were in a PRESSURIZED situation on a ship at sea level.

Besides, how could anyone just dispose of a body without the authorities doing an autopsy and the family being notified as th their wishes for the disposal of the dead person?