Unbelievable BA story
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Unbelievable BA story
First class flight's dead disturbing
March 19, 2007 - 5:18PM
A passenger in first class woke up to a shock when he found himself sitting near a corpse on a British Airways flight, British newspapers reported today.
Paul Trinder, 54, said cabin crew moved the body of the elderly woman from the economy section where she had died after take-off, the Mirror and Sun tabloids said.
"The corpse was strapped into the seat but because of turbulence it kept slipping down on to the floor,'' Trinder, a businessman, was quoted as saying.
"It was horrific. The body had to be wedged in place with lots of pillows.''
The woman's daughter was also upgraded and spent the rest of the nine-hour flight from Delhi to London grieving next to her dead mother, the Sun reported.
The Guardian newspaper said the incident happened last week.
British Airways has apologised for any distress suffered, according to the reports.
The Mirror quoted BA as saying: "We apologise, but our crew were working in difficult circumstances and chose the option they thought would cause least disruption.''
March 19, 2007 - 5:18PM
A passenger in first class woke up to a shock when he found himself sitting near a corpse on a British Airways flight, British newspapers reported today.
Paul Trinder, 54, said cabin crew moved the body of the elderly woman from the economy section where she had died after take-off, the Mirror and Sun tabloids said.
"The corpse was strapped into the seat but because of turbulence it kept slipping down on to the floor,'' Trinder, a businessman, was quoted as saying.
"It was horrific. The body had to be wedged in place with lots of pillows.''
The woman's daughter was also upgraded and spent the rest of the nine-hour flight from Delhi to London grieving next to her dead mother, the Sun reported.
The Guardian newspaper said the incident happened last week.
British Airways has apologised for any distress suffered, according to the reports.
The Mirror quoted BA as saying: "We apologise, but our crew were working in difficult circumstances and chose the option they thought would cause least disruption.''
All I can say is how distressing this tragic event must have been to everyone involved. For BA, was it a case of 'be damned' whatever action was taken after the death?
Too many people dying in aeroplanes (airplanes for the Yanks) these days! I probably will too (well I hope so). They should have a trap door to dump bodies into the cargo hold 
(not forgetting to warn the ground baggage crew of what to expect). Seriously though, with all compassion and respect, if I'd forked out for a 1st Class ticket, I wouldn't be too pleased having to share my Champagne with a stiff! Advance apologies to the PC brigade if I have upset any of you with the above tongue-in-cheek comments.
(not forgetting to warn the ground baggage crew of what to expect). Seriously though, with all compassion and respect, if I'd forked out for a 1st Class ticket, I wouldn't be too pleased having to share my Champagne with a stiff! Advance apologies to the PC brigade if I have upset any of you with the above tongue-in-cheek comments.
Crew rest? Flight deck bunk? I don't know what a/c type it was, but if L-H surely one of these options would have been better.
Surely better that than folks who paid £3k for a ticket to have to endure that (or any fare-paying pax to be honest)
Some airlines I understand have a "cupboard" to cater for such eventualities?
Surely better that than folks who paid £3k for a ticket to have to endure that (or any fare-paying pax to be honest)
Some airlines I understand have a "cupboard" to cater for such eventualities?
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A sad event for ALL concerned.
However, like the way the Sun relay the following;
" The woman's daughter was also upgraded"
It's the "also" bit that I find interesting.......What a SH1T tabloid they really are!!
However, like the way the Sun relay the following;
" The woman's daughter was also upgraded"
It's the "also" bit that I find interesting.......What a SH1T tabloid they really are!!
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Sadly happens at Qantas on average, once a month.
Very difficult for all concerned.
I remenber reading that some of SQ's ultra longrange aircraft have a dedicated chilled stowage for such situations......
Third paragraph under, "time saving".
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/bizf.../24/2003264881
Very difficult for all concerned.
I remenber reading that some of SQ's ultra longrange aircraft have a dedicated chilled stowage for such situations......
Third paragraph under, "time saving".
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/bizf.../24/2003264881
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It all boils down to latent fear of dead bodies and over dependancy of money over compassion.
Having spoken to crew about the subject one night, I learned that it is almost standard procedure to move the deceased to the front.
They have painted the picture of the daughter grieving next to her mother as an inconvenience and annoyance rather than a situation requiring compassion, love and tolerance.
Did any of the First Class passengers go over and sit with her and reassure her or try and make her feel better.
The guy who was 'horrified'....did he offer a word of kindness, or was he too busy writing his email to the Mirror on his Blackberry?
Having spoken to crew about the subject one night, I learned that it is almost standard procedure to move the deceased to the front.
They have painted the picture of the daughter grieving next to her mother as an inconvenience and annoyance rather than a situation requiring compassion, love and tolerance.
Did any of the First Class passengers go over and sit with her and reassure her or try and make her feel better.
The guy who was 'horrified'....did he offer a word of kindness, or was he too busy writing his email to the Mirror on his Blackberry?
Thought I'd seen this before
But it turns out this is the second (or are there more?) such story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770
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I read the full article in the Sunday Times detailing Mr. Trinder's complaints about the situation.
It left me with the distinct impression that was the sort of person who if someone were to drop dead in the street next to him, that he would ignore them and look the other way. He clearly is happy to pay to be insulated from the harsher realities of life and kicks-off if that bubble is burst.
Don't you know how much I paid for this ticket?..... While you're making money pal - I'm afraid life goes on.
It left me with the distinct impression that was the sort of person who if someone were to drop dead in the street next to him, that he would ignore them and look the other way. He clearly is happy to pay to be insulated from the harsher realities of life and kicks-off if that bubble is burst.
Don't you know how much I paid for this ticket?..... While you're making money pal - I'm afraid life goes on.
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Small problem about transporting the deceased around the cabin so that all 3-400 hundred punters get a look.
More discreet to keep the 'problem' localised and the deceased in their seat.
Could also be an issue police-wise - I'd have thought that the boys in blue (if called to the aircraft on arrival) might want to see things as they were.
More discreet to keep the 'problem' localised and the deceased in their seat.
Could also be an issue police-wise - I'd have thought that the boys in blue (if called to the aircraft on arrival) might want to see things as they were.
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Its not the first time some poor soul has expired on board an Aircraft. God rest her. But cases like this show a lack of proper preparation and planning by Airlines/manufacturers. I find it strange that the are no facilities on board, such as Body Bag, suitable storage area away from Pax. For health/infectious disease reasons as well as the more "personal" reasons. I believe cruise ships have facilities for deceased pax.
Time to give it some consideration, at least for long haul.
Time to give it some consideration, at least for long haul.
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I know a Cabin crew friend working on a JAL 747, who had a very sick passenger on board, they were trying to move him up to the flight crew rest area for a proper bed and rest area, when he died of a heart attack on the stairs.
Anyone who flies for a living knows when things go wrong, the training , and the book , doesn't always cover all situations. I'm sure everyone was trying to do their best, but sometimes it just doesn't work out as planned. That's aviation unfortunately.
Anyone who flies for a living knows when things go wrong, the training , and the book , doesn't always cover all situations. I'm sure everyone was trying to do their best, but sometimes it just doesn't work out as planned. That's aviation unfortunately.
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In the charter world, there was a story once circulating of where the cabin crew managed to put the body on the flight deck in the jump seat during a night flight.
One of the cabin crew, who had not been told of this brought up the coffees and asked the captain whether "his friend would like one as well".
On another flight in a company where we had experienced a bad run of pax dying on flights one of the cabin crew didn't like the look of one male pax sitting there still in his coat gloves and hat. She discreetly tried to check his pulse and found the the wrist was already stiff and cold to the touch. Having alerted the rest of the crew they were advancing on the seat ready to move him elsewhere when he suddenly stood up and removed his coat.
The wrist that the girl had checked turned out to be an artificial arm.
One of the cabin crew, who had not been told of this brought up the coffees and asked the captain whether "his friend would like one as well".
On another flight in a company where we had experienced a bad run of pax dying on flights one of the cabin crew didn't like the look of one male pax sitting there still in his coat gloves and hat. She discreetly tried to check his pulse and found the the wrist was already stiff and cold to the touch. Having alerted the rest of the crew they were advancing on the seat ready to move him elsewhere when he suddenly stood up and removed his coat.
The wrist that the girl had checked turned out to be an artificial arm.
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Mr Trindler was clearly traumatized by the experience but was offered BA. Not as much as a stiff drink. According to the Sunday Times he was told he should "... just get over it". She was moved to first class because it was dead quiet there, but not so once her daughter and son-in-law had been "upgraded". Apparently they spent the next 5 horus wailing. I mean, it's not what you pay three grand for, is it? He'd have been better off with the sardines.
As for the poster who questions the actions of Mr Trindler, what more was expected from him. He could hardly have gone up to the deceased old lady and asked her if she was OK!
No, I think the airlines have the repsonsibility to make better provisions on their long-haul flights. That people snuff it is a fact of of life, and if they are going to stuff 400 of them in an aluminium smarty tube for half a day or more, they'd do better than ofering their first-class cabin as a morgue. It would make me think twice about travelling first-class, not that I've ever thought once about it so far. No, it's the interesting peoples' cabin for me.
As for the poster who questions the actions of Mr Trindler, what more was expected from him. He could hardly have gone up to the deceased old lady and asked her if she was OK!
No, I think the airlines have the repsonsibility to make better provisions on their long-haul flights. That people snuff it is a fact of of life, and if they are going to stuff 400 of them in an aluminium smarty tube for half a day or more, they'd do better than ofering their first-class cabin as a morgue. It would make me think twice about travelling first-class, not that I've ever thought once about it so far. No, it's the interesting peoples' cabin for me.
Farrell, yours are words of a person who most probably never flies long haul in FIRST or BUSINESS, or certainly never pays out of his/her own pocket to do so. I travel in the front at my own hard-earned expense as a treat to myself, and the brutal reality of life is that for that kind of money I don't want to fly in the company of a deceased person next to - or in close proximity to me.
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"....... I find it strange that the are no facilities on board, such as Body Bag, suitable storage area away from Pax......."
I wouldn't have thought a bodybag would have been suitable until the lady was pronounced dead officially. I've been told only a doctor can do this because a death certificate has to be produced. So for arguements sake let's say she was still just barely alive, a bodybag would seal her fate.
I wouldn't have thought a bodybag would have been suitable until the lady was pronounced dead officially. I've been told only a doctor can do this because a death certificate has to be produced. So for arguements sake let's say she was still just barely alive, a bodybag would seal her fate.
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What, I would ask, are the airline staff expected to DO??? This is surely a situation where there is a high risk of criticism whatever particular decision they make, and if, in a packed cabin, their decision is to move the deceased to a place where there can be maximized seclusion for the corpse (with appropriate dignity) then what can possibly be wrong with that? BA can - maybe should - apologise for the distress caused, but there should not be any implied criticism of the decision itself. Other passengers should want the same for themselves or their dearest as for the unfortunate deceased.....
Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Last edited by HKPAX; 19th Mar 2007 at 12:35.