A couple traveling from Melbourne, Australia, to Doha, Qatar, experienced a horrifying ordeal when a fellow passenger suffered a fatal medical emergency mid-flight, leaving them sitting next to her lifeless body for hours.
A tragic mid-air emergency
Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were on their 15-hour Qatar Airways journey when a woman collapsed in the aisle. Despite attempts to save her, she could not be revived. “Unfortunately, the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heartbreaking to watch,” Ring told A Current Affair.
Crew struggles to move the body
The flight crew initially attempted to transport the woman’s body to business class but struggled due to her size. With two empty seats in their row, the couple was asked to move so the deceased passenger could be placed in Ring’s seat.
“They said, ‘Can you move over, please?’ and I just said, ‘Yes, no problem,’” Ring recalled. “Then they placed the lady in the chair I was in.”
Four hours sitting beside a corpse
For the next four hours, Ring sat beside the blanket-covered body, watching in disbelief. Upon landing, they were ordered to remain seated while first responders retrieved the deceased passenger.
“I can’t believe they told us to stay … it wasn’t nice,” Ring said of the unsettling experience.
Airline responds to passenger distress
Qatar Airways has since issued a statement expressing condolences to the woman’s family while acknowledging the distress caused to passengers. “We apologize for any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused,” a spokesperson said.
The airline is now in the process of reaching out to those affected, though for Ring and Colin, the harrowing memory of their flight is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
