An Australian couple have told of their shock after being placed next to a dead woman on-board a flight for four hours. Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were on a Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne to Doha when a passenger suffered a medical emergency in the aisle.
Despite the crew’s efforts, the woman’s life could not be saved. The woman’s body was then placed in the seat where Mr Ring was sitting in, with the couple told to move over. He told the show: "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.
"They looked a bit frustrated [cabin crew] 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.".
He said that he and his wife was told to remain on board until ambulance and police arrived, saying he witnessed the moment paramedics pulled the blanket off from the deceased passenger’s face. "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 couple have hit out at Qatar Airways for allegedly not getting in touch with them after the incident.
“They have a duty of care towards their customers as well as their staff, we should be contacted to make sure, do you need some support, do you need some counselling?” he said. The couple are now in Venice, Italy, where they had been travelling to after Doha.
Qatar Airways has indicated it is looking into the incident. The flight was booked through Qantas, which said it would reach out. “Ms Colin booked tickets through Qantas and travelled with Qatar Airways, a fellow Oneworld Alliance carrier,” a Qantas spokesperson said.
