this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2025
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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.

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 4 days ago (8 children)

In his autobiography Ozzy Osborne related a story about the guy next to him dying on a flight. He informed the flight attendant who gave him the choice of moving seats or staying put with free drinks for the remainder of the flight, so he stayed in place and got blasted out of his mind.

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[–] [email protected] 166 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (17 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 5 days ago (5 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.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 5 days ago (1 children)

So do babies. At least the dead person just stinks and isn't also screaming.

[–] [email protected] 63 points 5 days ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 days ago

Plus they're easily cleaned and changed.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 days ago

Personally, I'd take the dead person.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 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.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 days ago (1 children)

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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[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

dead bodies sometimes shit or urinate themselves. and your just being hotboxed in a plane.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Babies shit and piss themselves constantly.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I'd sit next to a dead person on every damn flight if I had the choice.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

There's bodily fluids that leak out afterwards. I don't think you'd want that to splash on you during turbulence.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I feel like if they had asked for volunteers to sit next to the body they would have gotten some. It's morbid, yes, but on a practical level it's more comfortable than being squished next to a living stranger.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

"Hey, this is MY armrest." shoves corpse

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago (13 children)

Instincts, man. People here lack them. Don't hang out next to a dead body of someone who just randomly collapsed, especially on something like a plane which can experience bad turbulence.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 days ago

I've sat next to many a passenger who was dead from the neck upwards.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Perhaps it's time to bring back the amenity that Singapore Airlines devised to handle this situation on their ultra-long-haul flights in the Airbus 340-500 -- the corpse cupboard: https://simpleflying.com/singapore-airlines-airbus-a340-500-corpse-cupboards-history/

[–] [email protected] 40 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (4 children)

The airline installed a discreet locker next to one of the aircraft's exit doors to hold an average-sized human body. Special straps were also provided to secure the body and prevent it from being moved by turbulence or during landing.

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 5 days ago (15 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] 61 points 5 days ago (1 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.

[–] [email protected] 58 points 5 days ago (9 children)

If the flight wasn't full and they didn't allow them to move seats that's extremely messed up.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 days ago (5 children)

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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[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 days ago (11 children)

On a related note, why don't more people just drop dead while driving a car? Like I can't think of a single story that I'm aware of that went "yeah he had a heart attack and then ran the car off the road"

I feel like it should be a daily occurrence

[–] [email protected] 22 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Probably because after they do, they crash and it will generally be assumed the crash is what killed them.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's going to be real weird when self driving cars finally work and sometimes cars just pull up with a dead body in it.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago

The news just doesn't report shit like that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Wait until they figure out self driving cars enough for grandmas to show up dead at places.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago

I knew someone that was orphaned in high school because his dad had a heart attack, crashed, killed himself and his wife.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago

I used to work with a lady who, upon missing her shift, the next day the managers were all going around quietly telling staff that she died on her way to work, that she’d had a massive stroke while driving. New fear unlocked that day. But yeah I guess you don’t hear about it on the news because the may just assume car accident is what causes the fatalities.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Does anyone know if there's actual protocol in these situations?

I actually know someone who died on a plane last year and, while they did at least make an emergency landing at a nearby airport, I've never thought about where they kept the body during that time. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to ask his surviving family that was with him, probably not.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (5 children)

Cover the body, and relocate surrounding passengers, if possible, if you can't move the body to business class (moving a dead body respectfully is very hard).

Apparently there were free seats elsewhere, the pax should have been offered relocation. ~~However it's not clear if the passengers asked. The cabin crew could have been rattled too and forgot.~~

Edit: They apparently asked, I don't see why they couldn't move.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Slightly unrelated, but last time I vomited during a flight they refused to take the bag and throw it away. I had to sit there for 6 hours, holding an uncloseable plastic bag full of my own vomit. Next to other passengers. Like, I get that it's technically some kind of hazard waste that flight attendants shouldn't have to handle, but the alternative is me potentially accidentally spilling it on or near other passengers. I had to carry it off the plane with me like it was my carry-on. It was absolutely ridiculous.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 5 days ago (9 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.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 days ago (6 children)

It would make the most sense to move the body to a flight attendant seat and have an attendant sit with the passengers. Unless the flight is close to its destination, then it's probably best to just leave it as moving a corpse is a real pain.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (4 children)

No more fighting for the armrest, no snoring, no chit chat? Well…

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Qatar Airways introduces new "corpse class" seating—no upgrades, but plenty of legroom for one.

😿😿😿😿

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 days ago (3 children)

If the movie Commando has taught me anything, it’s that a dead person covered to look like they are asleep, can make an 8 hour flight without notice.

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