Couple forced to sit next to passenger's body after mid-flight death

Couple forced to sit next to passenger’s body after mid-flight death

Posted by author February 25, 2025 World

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An Australian couple said they were forced to sit next to a passenger’s body who died on a recent Qatar Airways long-haul flight.

Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were embarking on their dream trip to Venice and about 10 hours into the flight from Melbourne, Australia, to Doha, Qatar, when a woman leaving the aircraft lavatory collapsed and died near their row, the couple told Australian news outlet A Current Affair on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heartbreaking to watch,” Ring told the news station. “They tried to wheel her up towards business class, but she was quite a large lady, and they couldn’t get her through the aisle.”

“They looked a bit frustrated, then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me; my wife was on the other side, and we were in a row of four.”

The flight crew asked Ring to move seats and placed the deceased passenger in his former seat. The couple said they were not offered to relocate despite there being empty seats. For the last four hours of the flight, the couple sat in the same row with the dead passenger and was told to stay seated upon landing for medical crews to remove the body.

The couple told A Current Affair the incident was traumatizing, and they had not been offered support from the airline at the time of the interview. “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,” Ring said.

A spokesperson for Qatar Airways told USA TODAY in a Wednesday statement: “Our thoughts are with the family members of the passenger who sadly passed away on-board a recent Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne, Australia.”

The airline has been in contact with the family of the passenger who passed away to express condolences and directly spoken with the affected passengers to address their concerns.

“The safety and comfort of all our passengers is of paramount importance to us,” the spokesperson said.