Couple 'traumatised' over horrifying seating request on flight from Australia

Yahoo

25-02-2025

An Aussie couple has been left "traumatised" after sitting next to a corpse for up to four hours on a long-haul flight as they made their way to an Italian holiday of a lifetime.
Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were sitting in their seats flying from Melbourne to Doha on a Qatar flight booked through Qantas when a fellow passenger came out of the toilet and collapsed in the aisle beside them. Despite desperate attempts, cabin crew were unable to revive her, the couple said. The "heartbreaking" scene went from bad to worse when the couple said they were told to "move over" and her body was placed in the very seat Mitchell had just been sitting in.
"They tried to wheel her up towards business class, but she was quite a large lady... then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me. And they just said, 'Can you move over, please?'," Mitchell told A Current Affair.
Blankets were placed over the woman and Jennifer, a nervous flyer, was encouraged by a fellow passenger to move seats. However, cabin crew reportedly didn't attempt to move the couple and Mitchell endured hours of sitting beside the woman.
When the flight landed in Doha, the couple were instructed to remain in their seats while an ambulance and police boarded the plane.
"I can't believe they told us to stay," Mitchell said. "I thought they would have got us out frankly, and let the ambulance and the police in there with no other people... but they told us to sit down and wait... [they] started pulling the blankets off the lady right beside me. I was there, and I got to see her face."
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The couple claim they have not been contacted by either airline — with the flight booked through Qantas and Qatar acting as the carrier.
"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," Mitchell said. "I don't really know how I feel and would like to speak to somebody to make sure I'm alright."
Yahoo News understands Qantas made contact with the passengers on Monday.
"Ms Colin booked tickets through Qantas and travelled with Qatar Airways, a fellow oneworld Alliance carrier," a Qantas spokesperson told Yahoo News. "The process for handling incidents onboard an aircraft like this is managed by the operating airline, which in this case is Qatar Airways."
Qatar Airlines has apologised for the incident and said it is "in the process of contacting passengers in line with our policies and procedures".
"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," a Qatar spokesperson said.
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