BA places corpse in first class

[spiggy_topes]

BA sat corpse in first class -News-UK-TimesOnline

The body of a woman in her seventies, who died after the plane left Delhi for Heathrow, was carried by cabin staff from economy to first class, where there was more space. Her body was propped up in a seat, using pillows.


The woman’s daughter accompanied the corpse, and spent the rest of the journey wailing in grief.

Paul Trinder, who awoke to see the body at the end of his row, last week described the journey as “deeply disturbing”, and complained that the airline dismissed his concerns by telling him to “get over it”.


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[pacblue]

Gee, that's a bit stiff !

So, you have to do something pretty dramatic (like die) to get upgraded to first on BA !

I though most aircraft today had those special "holding bays" (read : inbuilt coffins) for just such an event.

Failing that couldn't they have stuck her in the crew rest area ?

I'd be pretty pi**ed off if I were in First only to be confronted by a cadaver and a distressed daughter...

As a for the "get over it" attitude : B/A should "get real". Surely their action contravenes company policy - if not health regulations.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I though most aircraft today had those special "holding bays" (read : inbuilt coffins) for just such an event.

Nope. SQ's A345 has them. I don't know about any others. Most similar cases of in flight deaths I have read about either put in a seat somewhere, or take over one of the toilets.

Failing that couldn't they have stuck her in the crew rest area ?

I don't think so. Have you seen how tiny that area is? Every space may be allocated so where are the crew supposed to rest (and remember crew rest is mandated on long flights - not an optional luxury). So the alternative is diverting en route. But not sure how much good that will do, and potentially cause big delays especially if this stop is in a third country.

As a for the "get over it" attitude : B/A should "get real". Surely their action contravenes company policy - if not health regulations.

Why? If someone dies in flight (rare but not that rare) they have to be put somewhere.

 

[NM]

Why? If someone dies in flight (rare but not that rare) they have to be put somewhere.

Perhaps the option to jettison overboard like the Navy do from a ship? Then again, I think the family may not be very impressed with that option. As you say, there is not much option when faced with this unfortunate situation.

I once gave up my exit row seat (trans-Atlantic economy on BA 777) for an elderly passenger who fainted when going to the lav. I spent the rest of the flight in the jump seat on the flight deck, including landing at LHR - obviously that was before September 2001. Now I certainly considered that a triple upgrade at the time! I was relieved to hear the other passenger recovered quickly when given some water and a cup of tea.

 

[Soundguy]

Why? If someone dies in flight (rare but not that rare) they have to be put somewhere.

Exactly; it wouldn't worry me much unless the relatives were constantly making a big scene. Hey I would even consider sitting next to the body if offered a first class upgrade. Seen plenty of bodies before, people need to get a grip that death is a reality, something that happens to everyone.

You can even get through life without paying taxes (very difficult and not much of an existence, but theoretically possible) but death is a certainty.

 

[NM]

You can even get through life without paying taxes (very difficult and not much of an existence, but theoretically possible) but death is a certainty.

Nope. I plan on living forever - So far so good .

 

[Anna]

A few years ago my great-uncle was travelling from Singapore to Australia with his elderly wife in Y when she quietly died. The crew asked him if he would mind if they left her sitting next to him, and told him if anyone enquired to say that she was asleep.

My uncle was a doctor so was not as upset about this as other people might be.

Not sure if this was on QF or SQ.

 

[drron]

My only experience was helping a LOL on QF.Gave up my J seat to stay with her for about 5 hours at the back of the plane and got a bottle of wine as compensation.Mind you the plane got the first landing spot of the day at heathrow so through customs very quickly as the crew thought it appropriate that I and Mrsdrron should disembark first to make sure the lady was fine.And everyone said the lines at Heathrow are so long-not my experience!

 

[Dave Noble]

To avoid the thread deteriorating into bad jokes about the incident, now might be a good time to bring closure to this thread.

Dave