Qatar Airways placed dead passenger next to couple mid flight

An Australian couple flying to Europe were left "traumatised" after they were forced to sit next to a dead body on a Qatar Airways flight.

QATAR AIRBUS A380-861 A7-API (MSN 235)

An Australian couple recounted their horrifying experience of sitting next to a deceased passenger on a flight to Europe. Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were on a Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne (MEL/YMML) to Doha (DOH/OTHH), en route to Italy, when a woman suddenly collapsed in the aisle after visiting the toilet. The couple had to endure sitting next to the corpse for up to four hours on the long-haul flight, having booked Italian getaway with Qatar.

Despite desperate attempts to revive the woman, cabin crew were unable to. The airline crew placed her body in the seat where Mitchell was sitting in, after the couple were told to move over. Blankets were placed over the woman with Mitchell enduring an uncomfortable few hours beside the deceased woman.

Mitchell and Jennifer spoke to the media in regard to the "traumatising" experience

"It happened right beside me in the aisle, and they did everything they could, but unfortunately, the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heartbreaking to watch," Mitchell said.

"The cabin crew looked a bit frustrated and then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me – my wife was on the other side, we’re in a row of four by ourselves – and they just said to me, 'Can you move over, please?', and I just said, 'Yes, no problem,' and then they placed the lady in the chair that I was in."

Mitchell said him and his wife were told to stay in their seats until ambulance and the police came on. Ambulance officers then proceeded to pull the blanket off the dead passenger.

"I was there, and I got to see her face. Yeah, it wasn’t nice," he said.

"I can’t believe they told us to stay. I thought they would have got us out quickly and let the ambulance and the police in there with no other people in there. But they told us to sit down and wait."

The International Air Transport Association’s protocol suggests that a person who has died during a flight should be moved to a seat in an empty row, or if the flight is fully booked, returned to their assigned seat. The deceased is then covered with a blanket as a mark of dignity and respect. 

The Aussie couple said they had not been offered any support at all from Qatar Airways, but I'm not surprised.

"They have a duty of care towards their customers as well as their staff, we should have been contacted to make sure, do you need some support, do you need some counselling," Mitchell said,