An Australian couple said they were forced to sit next to a passenger’s body who died on a recent Qatar Airways long-haul flight.
Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were embarking on their dream trip to Venice and about 10 hours into the flight from Melbourne, Australia, to Doha, Qatar, when a woman leaving the aircraft lavatory collapsed and died near their row, the couple told Australian news outlet A Current Affair on Sunday
“Unfortunately, the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heartbreaking to watch,” Ring told the news station. “They tried to wheel her up towards business class, but she was quite a large lady, and they couldn’t get her through the aisle.”
“They looked a bit frustrated, then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me; my wife was on the other side, and we were in a row of four.
The flight crew asked Ring to move seats and placed the deceased passenger in his former seat. The couple said they were not offered to relocate seats despite there being empty seats. For the last four hours of the flight, the couple sat in the same row with the dead passenger and was told to stay seated upon landing for medical crews to remove the body.
The couple told A Current Affair the incident was traumatizing, and they have not been offered support from the airline. “They have a duty of care towards their customers as well as their staff, we should be contacted to make sure, do you need some support, do you need some counselling,” Ring said.
Qatar Airways told USA TODAY in an email statement on Tuesday: “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.”
