"BA apologises for using first class seats to store corpses"

[grue 1]

Martin Wainwright
Monday March 19, 2007
The Guardian

British Airways has apologised to its most lucrative customers after twice using first class cabins in aircraft as temporary morgues in the last six months.

The bodies of elderly passengers who died in cheaper and fully occupied sections of planes during the flights were transferred to empty seats in first class because of a lack of space to store them.

Natural sympathy among other passengers was tempered by concerns about health in cramped conditions on long flights and the presence of relatives of the victims who were overcome with distress. Such incidents are very rare on commercial flights but many airlines, including BA, appear to have only makeshift strategies for dealing with them.

Article continues
Travellers on a nine-hour overnight flight to Heathrow from Delhi last week were given an apology by the airline for any distress suffered after an elderly woman died in the economy section some three hours into the flight. Her body was moved as discreetly as practicable from the full cabin, a procedure followed in November when a retired American traveller died halfway through a six-hour flight from London to Boston. His body was covered with a blanket in a reclining seat in first class, which was 20% empty.

The latest incident saw the woman's body propped with pillows and strapped in with a seatbelt, while her daughter sat beside her, grieving and in tears for much of the remainder of the flight. Other first class passengers in the Boeing 747 jumbo said that there appeared to be no other system to deal with the tragedy, which happens an average of 10 times a year on BA flights.

The passenger nearest to the seat chosen as the temporary morgue, a BA gold card businessman who logs some 200,000 flying miles a year, said that it had not been made clear what was going on. He initially thought that the woman had been taken ill and was shocked when he had to ask for information and was told of the death.

The woman's daughter had been wailing in distress, leaving the £3,000-plus passengers in the cabin anxious and helpless, he said. On arrival at Heathrow, everyone in first class was also kept on board for an hour and some interviewed by police, until a coroner gave the all clear for them to disembark. He complained but was told that there would be no compensation, he said.

The trans-Atlantic incident prompted stiff upper lips from most passengers in the Boeing 777's 14-seat first class cabin, where the dead man's wife was given a "buddy seat" to accompany the body for the rest of the flight. One of them, also American, said that she had tried to concentrate on Mission Impossible III, the inflight film, while others "were very British about it, simply not acknowledging that there was anything wrong."

British Airways said that there had been no room to rest the passenger's body on the Delhi flight, because all seats were taken.

A spokesman said that there were almost inevitably problems with such a rare event among 36 million passengers carried by the airline every year.

"When a customer passes away on board it is always difficult and we apologise for any distress caused," he said. Most other airlines also use seats after a death, or occasionally lockers altered into temporary cupboards.










I guess people are just dying to fly first class.

cavete terrae.

[ladydyver 0]

Quote

Martin Wainwright
Monday March 19, 2007
The Guardian

British Airways has apologised to its most lucrative customers after twice using first class cabins in aircraft as temporary morgues in the last six months.

The bodies of elderly passengers who died in cheaper and fully occupied sections of planes during the flights were transferred to empty seats in first class because of a lack of space to store them.

Natural sympathy among other passengers was tempered by concerns about health in cramped conditions on long flights and the presence of relatives of the victims who were overcome with distress. Such incidents are very rare on commercial flights but many airlines, including BA, appear to have only makeshift strategies for dealing with them.

Article continues
Travellers on a nine-hour overnight flight to Heathrow from Delhi last week were given an apology by the airline for any distress suffered after an elderly woman died in the economy section some three hours into the flight. Her body was moved as discreetly as practicable from the full cabin, a procedure followed in November when a retired American traveller died halfway through a six-hour flight from London to Boston. His body was covered with a blanket in a reclining seat in first class, which was 20% empty.

The latest incident saw the woman's body propped with pillows and strapped in with a seatbelt, while her daughter sat beside her, grieving and in tears for much of the remainder of the flight. Other first class passengers in the Boeing 747 jumbo said that there appeared to be no other system to deal with the tragedy, which happens an average of 10 times a year on BA flights.

The passenger nearest to the seat chosen as the temporary morgue, a BA gold card businessman who logs some 200,000 flying miles a year, said that it had not been made clear what was going on. He initially thought that the woman had been taken ill and was shocked when he had to ask for information and was told of the death.

The woman's daughter had been wailing in distress, leaving the £3,000-plus passengers in the cabin anxious and helpless, he said. On arrival at Heathrow, everyone in first class was also kept on board for an hour and some interviewed by police, until a coroner gave the all clear for them to disembark. He complained but was told that there would be no compensation, he said.

The trans-Atlantic incident prompted stiff upper lips from most passengers in the Boeing 777's 14-seat first class cabin, where the dead man's wife was given a "buddy seat" to accompany the body for the rest of the flight. One of them, also American, said that she had tried to concentrate on Mission Impossible III, the inflight film, while others "were very British about it, simply not acknowledging that there was anything wrong."

British Airways said that there had been no room to rest the passenger's body on the Delhi flight, because all seats were taken.

A spokesman said that there were almost inevitably problems with such a rare event among 36 million passengers carried by the airline every year.

"When a customer passes away on board it is always difficult and we apologise for any distress caused," he said. Most other airlines also use seats after a death, or occasionally lockers altered into temporary cupboards.










I guess people are just dying to fly first class.

you are so twisted.....I think we could hang out for sure!
Anyway....I have helped medically a couple of times on the plane...but have never had anyone croak....that would pose a dilemma although it makes you wonder why they didn't land at the nearest airport. Usually in medical emergencies that is the first thing they want to do -although with the passenger being dead, I guess it is no longer an emergency - ok, time to shut up as I am digging myself into a deeper hole.

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

[Squeak 17]

Quote

Quote

ok, time to shut up as I am digging myself into a deeper hole.

Was is necassary to quote The ENTIRE POST My Mouse wheel now has a cramp

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

• Quote

[ladydyver 0]

Quote

Quote

Quote

ok, time to shut up as I am digging myself into a deeper hole.

Was is necassary to quote The ENTIRE POST My Mouse wheel now has a cramp

sorry...I will try to do better next time

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

• Quote

[Squeak 17]

Quote

Quote

Quote

Quote

ok, time to shut up as I am digging myself into a deeper hole.

Was is necassary to quote The ENTIRE POST My Mouse wheel now has a cramp

sorry...I will try to do better next time

no you wont, I know your type

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

• Quote

[ladydyver 0]

....really now?

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

[Andy_Copland 0]

Quote

Martin Wainwright
Monday March 19, 2007
The Guardian

British Airways has apologised to its most lucrative customers after twice using first class cabins in aircraft as temporary morgues in the last six months.

The bodies of elderly passengers who died in cheaper and fully occupied sections of planes during the flights were transferred to empty seats in first class because of a lack of space to store them.

Natural sympathy among other passengers was tempered by concerns about health in cramped conditions on long flights and the presence of relatives of the victims who were overcome with distress. Such incidents are very rare on commercial flights but many airlines, including BA, appear to have only makeshift strategies for dealing with them.

Article continues
Travellers on a nine-hour overnight flight to Heathrow from Delhi last week were given an apology by the airline for any distress suffered after an elderly woman died in the economy section some three hours into the flight. Her body was moved as discreetly as practicable from the full cabin, a procedure followed in November when a retired American traveller died halfway through a six-hour flight from London to Boston. His body was covered with a blanket in a reclining seat in first class, which was 20% empty.

The latest incident saw the woman's body propped with pillows and strapped in with a seatbelt, while her daughter sat beside her, grieving and in tears for much of the remainder of the flight. Other first class passengers in the Boeing 747 jumbo said that there appeared to be no other system to deal with the tragedy, which happens an average of 10 times a year on BA flights.

The passenger nearest to the seat chosen as the temporary morgue, a BA gold card businessman who logs some 200,000 flying miles a year, said that it had not been made clear what was going on. He initially thought that the woman had been taken ill and was shocked when he had to ask for information and was told of the death.

The woman's daughter had been wailing in distress, leaving the £3,000-plus passengers in the cabin anxious and helpless, he said. On arrival at Heathrow, everyone in first class was also kept on board for an hour and some interviewed by police, until a coroner gave the all clear for them to disembark. He complained but was told that there would be no compensation, he said.

The trans-Atlantic incident prompted stiff upper lips from most passengers in the Boeing 777's 14-seat first class cabin, where the dead man's wife was given a "buddy seat" to accompany the body for the rest of the flight. One of them, also American, said that she had tried to concentrate on Mission Impossible III, the inflight film, while others "were very British about it, simply not acknowledging that there was anything wrong."

British Airways said that there had been no room to rest the passenger's body on the Delhi flight, because all seats were taken.

A spokesman said that there were almost inevitably problems with such a rare event among 36 million passengers carried by the airline every year.

"When a customer passes away on board it is always difficult and we apologise for any distress caused," he said. Most other airlines also use seats after a death, or occasionally lockers altered into temporary cupboards.

Hey squeak did you read this shit?

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[Squeak 17]

HE's BAAAACK

Or did this get moved from the womens forum too

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Andy_Copland 0]

Quote

Martin Wainwright
Monday March 19, 2007
The Guardian

British Airways has apologised to its most lucrative customers after twice using first class cabins in aircraft as temporary morgues in the last six months.

The bodies of elderly passengers who died in cheaper and fully occupied sections of planes during the flights were transferred to empty seats in first class because of a lack of space to store them.

Natural sympathy among other passengers was tempered by concerns about health in cramped conditions on long flights and the presence of relatives of the victims who were overcome with distress. Such incidents are very rare on commercial flights but many airlines, including BA, appear to have only makeshift strategies for dealing with them.

Article continues
Travellers on a nine-hour overnight flight to Heathrow from Delhi last week were given an apology by the airline for any distress suffered after an elderly woman died in the economy section some three hours into the flight. Her body was moved as discreetly as practicable from the full cabin, a procedure followed in November when a retired American traveller died halfway through a six-hour flight from London to Boston. His body was covered with a blanket in a reclining seat in first class, which was 20% empty.

The latest incident saw the woman's body propped with pillows and strapped in with a seatbelt, while her daughter sat beside her, grieving and in tears for much of the remainder of the flight. Other first class passengers in the Boeing 747 jumbo said that there appeared to be no other system to deal with the tragedy, which happens an average of 10 times a year on BA flights.

The passenger nearest to the seat chosen as the temporary morgue, a BA gold card businessman who logs some 200,000 flying miles a year, said that it had not been made clear what was going on. He initially thought that the woman had been taken ill and was shocked when he had to ask for information and was told of the death.

The woman's daughter had been wailing in distress, leaving the £3,000-plus passengers in the cabin anxious and helpless, he said. On arrival at Heathrow, everyone in first class was also kept on board for an hour and some interviewed by police, until a coroner gave the all clear for them to disembark. He complained but was told that there would be no compensation, he said.

The trans-Atlantic incident prompted stiff upper lips from most passengers in the Boeing 777's 14-seat first class cabin, where the dead man's wife was given a "buddy seat" to accompany the body for the rest of the flight. One of them, also American, said that she had tried to concentrate on Mission Impossible III, the inflight film, while others "were very British about it, simply not acknowledging that there was anything wrong."

British Airways said that there had been no room to rest the passenger's body on the Delhi flight, because all seats were taken.

A spokesman said that there were almost inevitably problems with such a rare event among 36 million passengers carried by the airline every year.

"When a customer passes away on board it is always difficult and we apologise for any distress caused," he said. Most other airlines also use seats after a death, or occasionally lockers altered into temporary cupboards.

Yea i'm back, have been for days now but you're slacking on reading posts.

And that womens forum rant about step mothers was legit!

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[ladydyver 0]

OMG....that was hilarious

edited to add....
that made my night from the usual suck fest at work -

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

[Squeak 17]

Quote

***Yea i'm back, have been for days now but you're slacking on reading posts.

Yea sorry about my tardiness, I was Umm at the Umm DZ umm jumping..

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Andy_Copland 0]

hey hey hey! During my time in the DZ.com cells i was jumping too, right now we have 30mph winds though.

Even took a buddy for a tandem, he'd never even been in a plane before so he got the door seat in a tiny cherokee. His face was priceless

But i dont think i'll be taking any more friends for tandems, the free jump i get is nice but after a few fucking beers down the pub they dont shut their fucking mouths. Start talking to you as if you dont jump out of planes "so we got in the door and we jumped and we fell and it was crazy and it was fast and it was great and we done this turn thing and he put his thumbs up in my face and i couldnt breath and the parachute opened and the ground came fast and this guy grabbed some lines and ran"

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[riddler 0]

I have been on hundreds of flights, and not ever, once, flown anything except coach.

From now on, if I have the option, I'll fly BA. At least if I die, I'll get an upgrade.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[skinnyshrek 0]

Quote

hey hey hey! During my time in the DZ.com cells i was jumping too, right now we have 30mph winds though.

Even took a buddy for a tandem, he'd never even been in a plane before so he got the door seat in a tiny cherokee. His face was priceless

But i dont think i'll be taking any more friends for tandems, the free jump i get is nice but after a few fucking beers down the pub they dont shut their fucking mouths. Start talking to you as if you dont jump out of planes "so we got in the door and we jumped and we fell and it was crazy and it was fast and it was great and we done this turn thing and he put his thumbs up in my face and i couldnt breath and the parachute opened and the ground came fast and this guy grabbed some lines and ran"

Kind of like you talking about America

http://www.skydivethefarm.com

do you realize that when you critisize people you dont know over the internet, you become part of a growing society of twats? ARE YOU ONE OF THEM?

[dorbie 0]

Just what other 'plan' do people expect BA or anyone else to have?

It's real easy to complain when a corpse starts stinking up first class, but geeze, there are no good options with Cooper locks on the doors.


Hey it's DZ.com you can't use this material anywhere else.

[lawrocket 3]

I guess that was a rigor-ous journey.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[shropshire 0]

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[ryoder 1,590]

Quote

I guess that was a rigor-ous journey.

I was thinking that on the bright side, she was quiet, unlike a lot of other passengers.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[BillyVance 35]

Quote

I guess that was a rigor-ous journey.

It reminds me of the first National Lampoon's Vacation movie where the great aunt dies in the car, and they wrap her up and strap her down on the roof of the station wagon.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[pinkfairy 0]

If someone put a corpse next to me in the jump plane, I'd just leave!

Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet.

I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

[airtwardo 7]

Just what other 'plan' do people expect BA or anyone else to have?

It's real easy to complain when a corpse starts stinking up first class, but geeze, there are no good options with Cooper locks on the doors.

Quote

Sure there is...a little extra 'mystery meat' for the coach cabin customers!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

• Quote

[ACMESkydiver 0]

Quote

Even took a buddy for a tandem, he'd never even been in a plane before so he got the door seat in a tiny cherokee. His face was priceless

Wait a minute...your jump ship is a piper cherokee? How do you get off the wing?!?! -Wait a minute...never mind that. HOW DO YOU GET THE DOOR OPEN?

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[lawrocket 3]

I keep thinking of the HMS Pinafore...

To the tune of "A British Tar is a Soaring Soul"

"A British corpse is a soaring soul,
As free as a mountain bird,
Her motionless fist, it will resist
A dictatorial word.

"Her nose won't pant,
But her lip can curl,
Her cheeks are pale,
First-class passengers hurl,
Her bosom won't heave,
for her heart did blow,
And she'll be ever patient
To land at Heathrow ...

"Her eyes should be milky due to burned out fire,
Her brow with scorn be a knuckle;
If the cold hunk of meat should slide off the seat,
Adjust the pillows and tighten the buckle.

"Her foot should go purple,
and her throat should growl,
Her hair should twirl,
and her face should scowl,
Her nose should be up,
and her breasts protrude,
To keep British customary attitude.

Her altitude
Her attitude
Her altitude"

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[ryoder 1,590]

Quote

Quote

I guess that was a rigor-ous journey.

It reminds me of the first National Lampoon's Vacation movie where the great aunt dies in the car, and they wrap her up and strap her down on the roof of the station wagon.

Or the movie "S.O.B." where Richard Mulligan dies and his buddies put a pair of sunglasses on him, then take him out for one last night on the town.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[Scoop 0]

It's funny how if you pray or fart or sneeze you get jumped on and they divert the aircraft yet if someone dies they carry on regardless