Couple forced to sit next to dead body on plane for 4 hours after woman dies mid-flight
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I think the problem likely comes down to safety and respect for the dead.
Put the body in the back galley and suddenly the plane hits rough turbulence and that body is now a +100 pound projectile.
Putting the body in a bathroom seems better, but that turbulence hits and now the body is flying around in there during the rough turbulence, and then the next day the media is lambasting the air line for desecrating the body or whatever.
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Doubtful those are actual options. Bathroom? How are they going to secure the body incase of an emergency? It'll just be bouncing around in the bathroom. I don't think the door is strong enough to keep the body from falling out. And access to the cargo hold through the plane is very tight/small. It's hard enough to be an able body person getting down there. Dragging a body would be next to impossible.
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Then not having an alternate plan in place is on the airline, if there was nothing else the crew could do.
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I think it's more the nature of modern air craft. There isn't much spare room and space is extremely expensive on planes. Meanwhile, these deaths rarely occur.
There's probably some way to design a system to secure a body in the bathroom, however, and I broadly agree with you that they should have some type of solution.
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A baby is annoying, but they can't really help it.
I doubt the dead person had much control of the situation either.
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Access to the cargo hold? That's a myth made up by movies. Checked bags have different security standards for a reason, they're completely separate from passengers.
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Honestly they could've secured the body to one of the flight staff seats. If there's no extra, the flight attendant could sit next to a passenger.
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Put it in the first class or the crew bunkers. Anywhere but there...
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Right, sure ...
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You just need a blanket and a pillow (and John Matrix). -
At least this one had the courtesy to go to the toilet first
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That's why they'll just jump. They won't be far from the ground.
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We all have so much to learn from Commando.
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Yeah, apparently people took my comment seriously.
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If autism is a spectrum, you're still a boolean
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Even if the body was in the aisle seat... Can you imagine hauling a body down the aisle of a fully booked flight?
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I have bad news for you about babies.
And many people make sure to fully evacuate before a flight because they will do anything to avoid that bathroom. -
Qatar Airways introduces new "corpse class" seating—no upgrades, but plenty of legroom for one.
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It sounds like they already moved the body after death. They specifically moved the body to that seat.
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“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.
They could have asked if anyone had medical experience, then followed up with the spiel about there being a body on board and needing someone who can handle it. The pool of potential volunteers who could provide some basic postmortem care and then respectfully stay with the body through the rest of the flight. The potential for abuse would still be there ofc, but it'd be way lower than just outright asking who's cool with hanging out with a corpse for a few hours.
...honestly, saying that, it might not be a horrible idea to have a "I'm a medical professional" checkbox when buying the ticket. Even as 'just' a tech, I could handle some basic emergencies and wouldn't be horribly traumatized around a body. Shit, throw in a free flight in the event that some kind of emergency intervention is needed, and I'd be down to have my name added to some kind of short list of volunteers for every single flight.
