Flying The Unfriendly Skies

A British Airways passenger was refused compensation and told by the airline to “get over it” after a corpse was placed in the row where he was sitting last week.

Paul Trinder, 54, a businessman from Brackley, Northamptonshire, spent more than £3,000 for a first-class ticket from Delhi. He awoke during the flight to find that cabin staff were propping up a dead woman almost next to him. “The stewards just plonked down this body without saying a thing,” he said. “I remember looking at this thin, sparrow-like woman and thinking she was very ill.”

The woman had been in economy class when she died soon after the plane left Delhi. “She kept slipping under the seat belt and moving about with the motion of the plane,” Mr Trinder said. “When I asked what was going on, I was shocked to hear she was dead.”

Mr Trinder, who was kept on board the plane when it landed and questioned by police and a coroner, contacted British Airways to complain, but was told to simply “get over” the experience.

Apparently the overhead compartments were full. Sorry, that’s not really funny. At least she was quiet. Not funny either, but…

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5 Comments

  1. Jack's Shack March 19, 2007 at 8:54 pm

    Jameel,

    Free drinks- woohoo!

    Rhea,

    There are some valid concerns.

    Babka,

    Weekend at Bernies. Every Yom Kippur I see Jonathan Silverman in Shul. I always want to ask him about that.

    Paula,

    At least they would be quiet. Some people never stop talking.

  2. Paula March 19, 2007 at 6:16 pm

    It is creepy, but on the upside, she probably wouldn’t complain if you accidently spilled your drink on her.

  3. The Babka Nosher March 19, 2007 at 5:37 pm

    To clarify, Jack… yes it is kind of funny ;). i would be less than pleased to have a corpse seated next to me during a fligh… A little too Weekend at Bernie’s for me.

  4. Rhea March 19, 2007 at 4:04 pm

    Sitting next to a corpse on a plane is not just creepy it’s probably unhealthy. Yuk.

  5. Jameel March 19, 2007 at 3:43 pm

    I flew BA last week and was happy with the service. They even let me and the kids into the First Class lounge with my Gold Card (normally, the only allow the Gold Card holder plus one guest, but they made an exception for 2 more 🙂

    My kids LOVED lounging around in the lounge…(and there’s plenty of free drinks and kosher cookies/potato chips there as well)

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