Body placed next to Australian passenger on Qatar Airways flight

DOHA: The negligence on Qatar Airways flights continues as a dead passenger was placed next to an Australian couple during a Doha-bound flight.

Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin, who were travelling to Venice for a dream holiday, have spoken of the “traumatic” moment during a Qatar Airways flight, Australia’s Channel 9 reported.

The couple said that a woman died in the aisle beside them during the flight from Melbourne to Doha.”The cabin crew placed her corpse, covered in blankets, next to Ring for the remaining four hours of the flight without offering to move him, despite there being empty seats,” they told.

The couple said they had not been contacted or offered support by Qatar Airways or Qantas, the airline through which they booked the flight.

They said there should be a protocol to ensure passengers onboard were looked after in such situations.

Mitchell Ring, in a conversation with Channel 9 said that staff had responded “in no time” when the woman collapsed, but that “unfortunately the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heart-breaking to watch”.

Read More: Disabled woman’s wheelchair lost on Qatar Airways flight

“The cabin crew had tried to move her body towards business class “but she was quite a large lady and they couldn’t get her through the aisle.”

Mr Ring said the crew had seen seats were available beside him. “They said, ‘Can you move over please?’ and I just said, ‘Yes no problem’.

Then they placed the lady in the chair I was in.”While Colin could move to an empty seat nearby, Ring said he had not been given the option to do so by the cabin crew – even though there were vacant seats.

When the plane landed four hours later, he said passengers were asked to stay put while medical staff and police came on board. He said ambulance officers had then started pulling blankets off the woman and he had seen her face.

The couple said there needed to be a “duty of care” for customers and staff. “We should be contacted to make sure, do you need some support, do you need some counselling?”

In a statement, Qatar Airways said: “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.”