Airplane travel has received another terrible PR blow thanks to a couple having to be seated next to a corpse for an entire flight via Qatar Airways.
TMZ reports that Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were traveling to Venice, Italy from Melbourne, Australia via Doha, Qatar when a woman died mid-flight after collapsing into an aisle.
The couple recently spoke with A Current Affair about the situation, claiming that the woman’s body was seated next to them and they weren’t given the option to change their seats for the duration of the long flight.
While Colin was fortunate enough to be offered a free seat next to another passenger, Mitchell was asked to move one seat over so that the woman’s body could then be placed in his assigned seat.
To add to the bad situation, passengers were told to remain seated at the end of the flight while medical personnel removed the corpse.
In a statement, Qatar Airways issued an apology. "First and foremost our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight,” it reads. “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."
This dead body flight situation follows the harrowing runway accident that happened in Toronto on Delta Connection Flight 4819. The plane, carrying 76 total passengers and four crew members, overturned upon landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
After the accident, Delta Airlines confirmed that it was giving the passengers of the flight $30,000 for their troubles.