The following report was in a general news report. Possibly more dramatic than strictly factual but interesting none the less. Not being airline crew I'm curious about the legalities and regulations relating to first of all taking off with an obviously sick passenger on board, secondly about the requirements to turn back to point of origin or nearest airport in case of medical emergency, and thirdly the rules relating to flying a corpse from one country to another. Any airline boffins out there who can clarify the correct procedure to be followed in such a case???
Woman forced to spend 10 hour flight next to a CORPSE after fellow passenger died during flight
A Swedish woman was partially reimbursed by Kenya Airways after she was forced to sit through a ten-hour flight to Tanzania next to a dead passenger.
Lena Pettersson, a journalist with Radio Sweden, boarded a flight in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and immediately noticed that a man in his 30s who was seated directly across the aisle from her was seriously ill.
‘He was sweating and having seizures,’ she told Sveriges Radio. ‘Air hostesses were there all along, but the plane took off anyway.’
The flight attendants put out a call for any passenger on board with medical experience who might be able to help, and someone eventually began performing cardiac massage on the ailing man.
However, efforts to revive the sick passenger failed, and he passed away just hours into the overnight flight bound for Dar es Salaam.
While the crew moved people seated next to the deceased man, there was nowhere for Pettersson or her friend to relocate.
‘Of course it was unpleasant, but I am not a person who makes a fuss,’ she said.
The cabin crew appeared at a loss as to what to do next, so flight attendants wrapped the corpse in a blanket as best they could and laid him out across three seats. Pettersson said the deceased man was rather tall, so his legs were sticking out across the narrow aisle, mere inches from her.
When Pettersson returned from her trip, she lodged a complaint with Kenya Airways and demanded compensation.
After a couple of months of back-and-forth emails, she received $713 (roughly half her ticket price) and an apology.
‘I am happy with it. I think it was a reasonable substitute,’ she said.[/COLOR]
I probably shouldnt ask this, but how does this affect an airline head count?? Does one consider it (for example) 200 pax, 10 crew and 1 corpse? Or just stick to 210 souls on board?