THIS is the moment a couple was left in tears after they were forced to sit next to a dead woman for hours in a long-haul flight.
Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were travelling to Venice on a Qatar Airways flight when a fellow shockingly collapsed when the plane was mid-air.
A Current AffairMitchell Ring (pictured) and Jennifer Colin were forced to sit next to a woman’s body onboard a Qatar Airways flight[/caption]
A Current AffairThe couple was left traumatised after the horror ordeal[/caption]
APThe Qatar Airways flight was travelling to Doha (stock image)[/caption]
And despite the cabin crew’s desperate efforts, the woman could not be saved.
Covered in a blanket, her body was then put on the vacant seat right next to where Mr Ring and Ms Collin were sitting.
The couple was even asked to move over to make room for the body.
For more than four hours, Mr Ring and Ms Collin were forced to sit next to the corpse – and the experience left them traumatised.
A tearful Ms Colin told A Current Affair: “My husband turned around and asked me to move to make space. I was pretty shocked and I said, ‘Are they going to put her there?’”
Mr Ring added: “They went to try and move her, they brought this chair down… and they put her in it and tried to wheel her up towards business class.
“But she was quite a large lady, and they couldn’t get her through the aisle.”
“Unfortunately, the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heartbreaking to watch.”
The Aussie couple said that they were not taken care of by the crew of the passenger jet, claiming that they failed to relocate them away from the body.
They were even forced to stay on board when medical officers began examining the dead woman when the flight landed in Doha.
Mr Ring says one of the officers uncovered the woman’s face in front of her wife.
He added that no one from the airlines contacted them after the horror ordeal.
“I can’t believe they told us to stay… it wasn’t nice,” Mr Ring said.
“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?
“I don’t really know how I feel and would like to speak to somebody to make sure I’m alright.”
The Aussie couple, who are in Venice for their dream holiday, says it is a hard situation.
Ms Colin said: “I’m trying to make the best of a pretty hard situation, but, you know, we’re on holiday so we’re really trying to have a good time.”
Qatar Airways has since indicated it is looking into the incident, Daily Mail reports.
The couple booked the flight tickets through Qantas – the flagship carrier of Australia.
A spokesperson for Qantas said: “Ms Colin booked tickets through Qantas and travelled with Qatar Airways, a fellow Oneworld Alliance carrier.
“The process for handling incidents onboard an aircraft like this is managed by the operating airline, which in this case is Qatar Airways.”
A spokesperson for Qatar Airways said in a statement: “First and foremost our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight.
“We apologise for any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused, and are in the process of contacting passengers in line with our policies and procedures.”
The Sun has reached out to Qatar Airways for comment.
What happens when a passenger dies during a flight?
WHEN a passenger dies during a flight, the crew member must check if they can provide any medical assistance to the passenger and revive them.
If the death is confirmed, then the crew will respectfully move the body to an empty row or business class – ideally away from fellow passengers.
They are then required to cover the body with a blanket for the rest of the flight.
If necessary, the plane may be diverted to the nearest airport to handle the situation properly
The pilots may or may not choose to divert the flight to make an emergency landing.
After landing, local authorities will be contacted to take care of the body, and the airline will assist the family with the necessary arrangements.
Some rules may differ depending on the airline companies’ policies.
It comes after a JET2 plane was forced to make an emergency landing after a holidaymaker died onboard.
The aircraft, flying from Tenerife to the UK, was forced to divert to the Spanish mainland on Friday evening after a passenger suffered a fatal medical emergency.
The nationality of the passenger isn’t known, but he was reported to be in his 70s.
Meanwhile, another passenger tragically died onboard an Air France flight while returning from a trip to Paris.
A doctor on the flight reportedly tried to save the passenger’s life after they suffered a medical emergency while returning to Boston.
It comes after a Turkish airline pilot died mid-flight forcing an emergency landing.
Pilot İlçehin Pehlivan fainted during the 12-hour flight forcing the other pilots on board to head off course to New York’s JFK.