Man dies on BA flight after eating food (In-flight Suicide on BA LAX Flight)

[Jet II]

From The Sun

Man hanged on BA flight

By GRAHAM DIGGINES

A MAN hanged himself on a British Airways jet after calmly tucking into a last in-flight meal and quaffing champagne.

The middle-aged passenger strangled himself in the club class lavatories of a Los Angeles-bound Jumbo Jet which had taken off from Heathrow.

Staff raised the alarm after they realised the toilet had been locked for half an hour. And passengers looked on in horror as a doctor vainly battled to save the man’s life after cabin crew broke down the door.

The man had looped his belt over a lavatory handle to make a noose before hanging himself. A frantic call was made over the Boeing 747’s public address system to try to find a doctor among the 349 passengers.

One passenger said: “It was absolutely horrific. There was a commotion around the toilet then this poor chap was hauled out and placed on an empty seat.

“It was clear that nothing at all could be done for him. At first everyone thought he had been taken ill.

“But it was even more distressing to find out he had taken his life.”

A spokeswoman for British Airways said: “We can confirm that a male passenger died on flight BA269. We extend our sympathies to his family.”

The man is believed to have been from Switzerland, but he was not named last night.

[railwaysengineer]

Jet II, reading the story gives a complete different picture than your headline is initiating . . .:eek:

[BBriscoe]

When did this happen?

[Captain Stable]

Original article does not say.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003001794,00.html

[Tiger]

The title of your posting is incorrect the meaning you are trying to give or I have read I your title is the food he ate on board killed this gentleman.

He in fact killed himself...

While I see perhaps some kind a humour is being given here, I`m sure the cabin crew weren`t finding it funny and as for the man`s relatives.

Jet II I hope you don`t find any bodies hanging, it isn`t not pleasant.

[Sarl]

Jet II
The heading under which you post is disgraceful and you appear to be using an extremely serious and distressing event to points score against BA!
Quite frankly, if I was moderating this, I would strike your name from the Prune Board!
My sympathies here go to the family of the deceased and very much to the Crew who have had to deal with this incident. To counterbalance your obvious attempt to have a go at BA, I have little doubt that the Crew involved dealt with it in a highly professional manner and showed considerably more care than you do in your post.
You are a disgrace!
Sarl

[Dr Befman]

That I never thought of hanging myself! It is indeed much quicker and less painfull then death caused by airline food, it is not the radiation and the stress that reduce our life expectations with ten years, IT IS THE FOOD!

it all becomes very clear to me now;)
Greetz

[Brenoch]

after cabin crew broke down the door

I think BA reinforced the wrong door..

[AMEX]

;) yep, to open a locked toilet door only take a gentle touch and and the knowledge of where to apply it. Then again "breaking down a door" (with an axe perhaps:D) is a little more "media material.
Next we will read that Steven Seagall had boarded the plane after he had docked the 74 with a C152, crawled his way through the Air con ducts (like the ones in a building) and used his mastering of martial arts to beak down the door (taught by a Nepalese monk who had adopted the poor kid as he had been abandonned by mummy, at the bottom of the Himalayas but who survived after he moved in with a family of racoons-or their local equivalent;))

I agree though, the title is somewhat misleading and its meanining far from acurate.

[Panman]

No need to break down the door when you can simply slide the latch and push it in. (Knowing how to slide the latch is the thing - don't even need a pen - as I have seen CC do). Done lots of weekly checks where I had to unlock U/S toilets....

But yes the title is misleading, was expecting to read an article on someone choking on a fish bone or such....

[Devils Advocate]

Sarl, well we can thank d’Lord that you’re not moderating it old son !

Moving on, actually the stiff....... I mean, the deceased...... died pretty much as per the title of this thread, i.e.

He was on a BA flight.
He did indeed eat some airline food ( and quaffed champagne, apparently ).
He then went in the bog and died, albeit by his own hand.

So what’s the beef – you got a problem with facts !?

Ok, the title of this thread is maybe a bit tongue in cheek, but no more than that, and what’s posted is merely repro’d from the ‘Online Sun’

As for the crew having to deal with it…. well, perhaps as per the saying, if you can’t take a joke then perhaps you shouldn’t have joined, and noughts as strange as folk.

..... of course one could hypothesise that the stiff, was trying to be just that, i.e. that he was doing a solo mile-high-club imitation of Michael Hutchence ?!

…… and yes, I do know that in the latter’s instance the coroner discounted the auto eroticism theory (http://www.thei.aust.com/music98/hutchcor.html).

In closure, BA stands for Bloody Awful, doesn’t it ?

[Sarl]

Well Devils Advocate

Your inane post really did bring the smile back to my face.

Thank you for that.

Sarl

[BigMarv]

Well it made me chuckle...

[peeteechase]

Dear DA

<<In closure, BA stands for Bloody Awful, doesn’t it ?>>

Better luck with the interview next time?

TIC, PTC

[Touch'n'oops]

As for the latch on the toilet. The CC who taught it to me at the tender age of 8, she made a big mistake. I spent my childish years unlocking doors of poor unsuspecting passengers.

Note to kiddies out there, don't do it to your Dad. They always somehow know it's you!!!!:D :D :D

[Unwell_Raptor]

I don't think that discussing the technical details is going to get us anywhere.

My sympathy is with the poor people who had to cope with the incident, whether staff or passengers.

Of course I feel pity for anyone who is sad enough to kill himself, but this was a damn selfish way to do it.

[Devils Advocate]

Indeed FS, i.e. if he was that much of a runt as to be able hang himself inside an airliners crapper, it's perhaps fortuitous that he didn't find himself getting sucked into the vacuum powered bog - now there'd be a story........ and I can see the headline now: ”Man sucked to oblivion inside airline toilet !”

Ps. peeteechase – W.r.t. interview at BA ?! Well I've never applied to them, and wouldn’t want to. I.e. the airline I work for goes to far more interesting & 'exotic' places than BA ever would, treats me excellently and, overall, I'll earn more than the folks at BA do too ! And if proof were needed we've a couple of senior ex-BA chaps working for us and you couldn't drag'em back to Big Airways - 'nuff said. :D

[overstress]

He didn't eat the crew food by mistake did he?:p

[jmccrew]

If the toilet door was a solid panel then a simple push of the latch would be enough to open it .. If it was a bifold door then the locking hinges would also need to be removed, which given the postion of the body inside the compartment might or might not be that easy . Crew are taught both methods in case of passenger heart attack, stroke, or decompression etc.

[PPRuNe Pop]

I think that DA has probably put a slant on this thread that is appropriate. If we all got deadly serious about everything life would be a drag. Can't eat this or that! Can't do this........................and so it goes on.

As for the CC I imagine it was a difficult situation but they are trained for just that sort of thing.

It is right to be sympathetic but I am sure there have been many other much worse instances on board an aircraft.

[phnuff]

Hey folks I think you are missing the point about opening bog doors on an aircraft - if there is a dead dood in there slumped or hanging, any tricks with pens or screwdrivers may be irrelevent because the dood may be slumped on the floor or what ever and with the size of those places, opening the door may be very hard.

Edited for unfunny sick comment.

[corp.f/a]

Hey DA your co. sounds fab got any jobs for cabin crew? CFA:)

[nojacketsrequired]

I find some of the above postings offensive to both the family of the deceased and the crew who had to deal with this situation.

Cabin crew are a professional and well trained group of individuals and under that uniform and 'welcome on board smile'
lies a wealth of education and qualifications a few of you pilots(and I do mean only a few ) do not appreciate.

Above all they are successful in their jobs because they enjoy looking after the passengers on board and help care for them
when taken ill.

Nothing in their education or training makes them prepared for bringing down a passenger depressed enough to hang himself in a toilet and deal with a suicide.

Oven fire,decompression and medical emergencies i.e. heart attack which may lead to natural death we're trained for,suicide is hard for anyone to deal with.

Devils Advocate if it was a family member of your's would you make these comments?,if you were the crew how would you have handled it?.
Just something else to think about when you're locked up in your flight deck for a few hours,I pity the person sat next to you if this is your attitude.

NJR.

[Jet II]

As the originator of this thread I am quite surprised at the venom of some of the posters.

I thought it was an amusing story for 2 reasons:

As had been said by others - I find it very difficult to see how someone managed to hang himself in an A/C toilet - my first impression was that he was a very short guy.
I have also had the misfortune to have BA inflight meals and whilst some were so disgusting that I wouldn't feed them to my dog - I didn't think they were worth killing myself over.

Some posters have said that we should have sympathy for staff when doing distastful duties. I agree and I have also done many unpleasant/distasteful jobs (includes pulling bodies out of undercarriage bays) but have always found that humour is a great stress reliever. I feel that I am one of the last people in this country who does not believe that everyone needs 'counseling' to get through life's difficult times, a good joke and posssibly a stiff drink is usually sufficient.

As I seem to have genuinely upset some people I fully apologise for any offence caused - it was not deliberate.

PS. As to toilet doors, they are designed to be easily removable from the outside of someone collapses inside and blocks the door.

[Captain Stable]

Sorry, but I fail to find any humour in this story whatsoever.

That someone was depressed (and ill) enough to take their own life I find immeasurably sad. That the cabin crew had to handle the results and the other passengers had to be presented with the aftermath would not be pleasant for any of them.

Some of the comments above I have found distasteful, irreverant, lacking all respect and, in one or two cases positively sick. Those who made them should be ashamed of themselves.

[Charlie32]

Almost all humour requires taking advantage of someones misfortune. Humour is also a good way of coping with difficult situations. Try laughing in the bar about your latest cock up, a trouble shared is a trouble halved etc etc.

[luke77]

:(
Sorry Charlie32 there are limits on humour for most people
Captain Stable, I completely agree

[AsaBeluga]

I have only just got home to read this I would just like to say.

To all of you getting worked up over this poor guys demise.

Death comes to us all, but some of us go looking for it first.
The story is humourous and sad.
Just chill out if you are offended don't read any more.

I for one thought it quite funny.
:eek:

[Danny]

The art of humour requires good timing. Unfortunately, in this instance that element is lacking.

Please go to the Jet Blast Forum (http://www.pprune.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=16) where your attempts may or may not be appreciated. :rolleyes:

[PPRuNe Pop]

I think it is time to close this thread. That's an end to it.


PPP