Economy Class Beds on Singapore Airlines Airbus A340-541??

[McGinty]

This photograph of part of the galley of one of the new Singapore Airlines Airbus A340-541 ultra-long haul planes looks horribly like it is the right size for a human body, dead or alive.

Is it a cabin crew sleeping bunk? ....an economy class bed? ...or what?

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/529497/M/

[Airline Tycoon]

It's is to store a corpse if there is a death inflight.

[hangar]

interesting
i would'nt go for a sleep on that flight if i was a grumpy passenger the cabin crew might just push u into that big compartment and close the door then u could be forgotten about forever aggghhhh!!
:p :E

[Buster the Bear]

Andrew Clark, transport correspondent
Tuesday May 11, 2004
The Guardian

It is always inconvenient when a passenger dies on an aeroplane - not least for the person sitting in the next seat. So Singapore Airlines has attempted to take the trauma out of such tragedies by introducing a special cupboard to store any unexpected corpse.
The airline's new fleet of Airbus A340-500 aircraft boasts a discreet locker next to one of the plane's exit doors which is long enough to store an average-sized body, with special straps to prevent any movement during a bumpy landing.

Cabin crew have been instructed to use the locker in the event of a death on a long-haul flight - particularly if the aircraft is busy, with no free seats on which to lay out the deceased.

The aircraft came into use in February, operating the longest non-stop route in the world: a 17-hour, 7,900-mile journey between Singapore and Los Angeles.

The length of the flight has forced Singapore Airlines to think carefully about its handling of any medical emergencies - particularly because the route spans the Pacific Ocean, with little opportunity for an unscheduled landing.

An airline spokeswoman said: "On the rare occasion when a passenger passes away during a flight the crew do all that is possible to manage the situation with sensitivity and respect.

"Unfortunately given the space constraints in an aircraft cabin, it is not always possible to find a row of seats where the deceased passenger can be placed and covered in a dignified manner, although this is always the preferred option.

"The compartment will be used only if no suitable space can be found elsewhere in the cabin."

The airline intends to begin a second route next month using the same long-range aircraft - the flight between Singapore and New York will skirt the north pole, offering equally little scope for diversion.

Richard Maslen, the assistant editor of Airliner World magazine, said the compartment was an interesting feature of the new aircraft, which seats 180 people.

"As far as I'm aware, this is not something that's been thought of in other aircraft designs in the past," he said.

"Obviously, these things do unfortunately happen in the air and it's good to see that they have been thought about in advance."
http://whipsnade.co.uk/picturelibrary/jpeg150/br/brown_bear_120_wide.jpg

[LTNman]

The airline's new fleet of Airbus A340-500 aircraft boasts a discreet locker next to one of the plane's exit doors which is long enough to store an average-sized body,

That rules out most Americans then.

[Xeque]

Scenario.....

1. Passenger dies from DVT en route

2. Riga Mortis keeps the body in its "S" shape caused by 18 inch by 29 inch seat pitch. Bad news for the airline PR Department.

3. Air crew leap into action. Restraining straps ensure the body stretches out to full length so the airline can DENY DVT - clever stuff!!

[Ian Corrigible]

Pax: "Stewardess, a man has been in that toilet for 45 minutes now. I think there maybe something wrong."

Stewardess: "Madam, that's not a toilet..."

[Engine overtemp]

Been covered before, but a picture can be found here (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/529497/M/)

[A Very Civil Pilot]

It will bound to be used for crew rest when there are no dead bodies on board

[Anti-ice]

Just hope they check first if its dark :uhoh:

[Herod]

And I always thought that was the purpose of the seat just to my right. (Stands by for flak from First Officers)

[McGinty]

I had raised the issue of what this cupboard is for in a previous thread. See

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=129347

Is everyone sure that the Guardian article is for real: that we are not having our legs pulled? Aren't there a variety of horrible juices that will start to come from a body after a few hours? The sliding tray in the photo does not seem capable of stopping the flow of such juices. And won't the body start to stink after a few hours, given that the cupboard is not refrigerated?

Surely it would make more financial sense (and hygiene sense) for the airline to land the plane at a nearby airport on that one trip in 10,000 when someone dies rather than to pay money to carry that much empty space around for flight after flight waiting for the rare death of a passenger?

I cannot believe that any sensible airline would invest in such a cupboard.

Any comments (other than the fact that Singapore Airlines may not be the most sensible airline on the planet)?

[jettesen]

how do you know the cupboard isn't refrigerated?? It is probably cooled in the same way as the bars. I'm sure that the manufacturers had thought about that. Body juices woudn't start to flow that quickly surely. If so, they may as well be sat in their seat

[McGinty]

Regarding refrigeration, the door does not look like it is insulated at all.

While we are on the topic of the door, this cannot possibly be space for a body because of the absence of an inside latch on the door. If it is for a dead body, then 99.99% of the time this compartment would be not contain a dead body, but would be an enticingly empty space for a crew member (or a passenger?) to grab a few winks in. If you get in there and somehow can shut the door for a quick snooze, then how do you get out of there after waking up other than by banging the door and screaming your head off?

Likewise for any body that was stuffed in there under the mistaken presumption that it was dead (e.g. from a drug-and-alcohol-induced coma). How does a body arisen from a mistaken death get out of the compartment?

Seriously though, the flimsiness of the slide out "body tray" indicates that it could not possibly support a 200lbs+ body without some kind of bracing between the tray and the floor of the cabin. It would bend in half if any hefty body was placed on it.

But if it is not for a body, then what the heck is it for??

Are there not any coroners out there reading this who could help us with an analysis of the bending dynamics of a sliding mortuary tray? How thick does such a tray have to be to support 99% of all bodies when the tray is fully extended 6 feet from the storage locker without any supporting strut underneath?

[Tallbloke]

On the bodily fluids / pongs: I think a body bag would do the trick no?

Airbus are currently trying to encourage airlines to fly extremely long sectors over parts of the globe where a diversion is extremely unlikely. The provision of a temporary morgue sounds like a good idea. (I bet it ends up full of cabin luggage tho)

[BigHitDH]

This is an interesting subject.

Who (if there are no qualified doctors) on board has the ability to pronounce someone as "dead"? Does the decision lie with the aircraft commander?

On the other hand, if someone did die in flight, I'd happily give up my coach seat to sit next to the body - as long as it's in 1st :E