Sitting Next To A Dead Man On A Plane
So, you get on an airplane for a 10 hour flight from Amsterdam to Tanzania. Beofre you get on a flight for 10 hours, you really want to know that you are going to get along with the person who is seated next to you. When Radio Sweden reporter Lena Pettersson got on her flight she noticed the person seated next to her was sweating and apparently having seizures. The flight attendants noticed too, but hey, in this economy you will take whatever passengers you can get and no refunds if at all possible. So, despite the guy looking awful the flight took off. Shortly after takeoff the guy died. Yep. For 10 hours, Lena got to sit next to a dead man while food and drink service and inflight entertainment was brought forth.
After her flight, Lena complained to Kenya Airways. They decided to give her a partial refund for her flight. See, if Lena was smart, what she should have done is say that the guy said the word bomb and they would have got him right off the plane. You can also do that if you have a middle seat and the guy next to you has the aisle and you want more room. I kid. I kid.
I hope that they at least gave her free drinks the whole flight...
ReplyDeletecoming from Amsterdam, sweating and having seizures...was he a drug mule? As tight as seating is on an airplane, I'd have asked for more than a refund for having to sit next to a dead person. Who got the arm rest? Granted, they wouldn't bore you with their conversation, but still. Can't believe they didn't remove him from the plane prior to takeoff.
ReplyDeleteWHO GOT THE ARM REST?!
ReplyDelete@Lisa, that's an important question and I can't breathe right now from laughter.
OMG! I would have had nightmares for WEEKS.
ReplyDeleteI too am curious as to what the cause of death ended up being.
I find it difficult to understand why they didn't put him someplace more private - not that he cared at that point, but his neighbor would have felt better.
ReplyDeleteDid he have the aisle seat or window?
Was every other seat on the plane full? I find it very hard to believe that there wasn't a seat available in business or first class that they couldn't have given her. My big fear during all of that was that what ever he died of was contagious! Why was the plane not quarantined until a probably cause of death was determined? Haven't these people seen Outbreak or Contagion? Holy hell.
ReplyDeleteThey should refund her full ticket AND give her free flights.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the flight attendants served him his infight meal. You think they poked him for 20 minutes asking if he wanted lunch?
ReplyDeleteGreat points Lisa! And that is funny (well, not really) about the arm rest.
ReplyDeleteVicki, I can see it now: poke, poke, "I said, do you want the chicken or kosher meal?!"
ReplyDeleteShe should be able to retire from this.. incident(?).. and it could all easily be arranged out of court. That's what I would do. $$$$
ReplyDeleteThe passenger and the crew notice he is sweating and having seizures and they do nothing?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'd rather sit next to a dead guy on a plane than some of the seatmates I've had. At least you know he wouldn't want to get up to go to the bathroom or be a Chatty Cathy.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why they didn't make an emergency landing for this...
ReplyDeleteI'd have asked if I could have his meal.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they'll refund the dead guy's ticket. Probably not. Although, he should qualify for the bereavement rate.
@Cathy That's what I was thinking. At some point shortly after death, don't the bodily fluids exit the body? That's a mess. You would think once they discovered he was dead they would find the closest airport and leave him there.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious what he died of too...
Two words: private plane
ReplyDeleteIt seems no one used their common sense, nor took the initiative to get the poor guy some help. I would have spoken up. My thoughts on the plane would have been: "Why didn't we help him?" or "Could we have helped him?", NOT "Do I have to sit next to a dead guy?"
ReplyDeleteI was once on a flight when a guy became unconscious mid-flight. Getting him on the floor woke him up. The flight attendants asked me if I felt the guy needed immediate care. They offered to make an emergency landing. I told them "no" and we continued on with the flight.
There's a little more to the story that this. The flight had already taken off and was mostly full. The moved the people in his actual row, wrapped him in a blanket laid him out and tried to completely cover him up. The woman complaining was sitting in the row across from deceased and said the toes could be seen poking out of the blanket. The airline offered her $900 in compensation which she refused, stating that she wanted more.
ReplyDeleteYes, the flight could have turned back and off loaded the body at considerable cost and inconvenience to all the passengers but this is usually not done unless there is a fear of contagion. A doctor was supposedly on board who responded to the emergency but was unable to save the passenger and must not have felt that such a decision was necessary.
Julaine, if that's the case, then this chick needs to get over herself. So what if she could see a dead dude's toes? What, is that going to haunt her for years? Whatever. Take your $900 and shut the eff up already. Not everything is a get-rich-quick opportunity, missy.
ReplyDelete@ julaine , thank you for the info. I rescind my opinion!
ReplyDeleteYes, julaine, thank you for that information! Did you read this somewhere you can provide a link to? (Or were you on the plane? ((O_O)) )
ReplyDeleteIt's like in the Airplane movie, he was getting sick of her talking so he killed himself.
ReplyDelete"Of course it was unpleasant, but I'm not a person who makes a fuss", stated Lena P. Is she nuts?! She not only complained that she had to sit next to a man that lost his life, but she used the opportunity to get a refund (she was sitting ACROSS the aisle) AND she reported it to the media! Talk about hypocrisy and lacking self-awareness. According to the link below, the man was seizing BEFORE the flight took off. It's her fault for not advocating for another human being. She ought to be ashamed of herself.
ReplyDeletehttp://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2012/06/swedish-woman-man-dies-kenya-airways-flight/789847/1
Goggle is your friend. I read about this story yesterday in one of the European newspapers. Sorry I'm not sure which one it was. You might want to check with The Telegraph or even the dreaded Daily Mail if it doesn't pop up using key words Kenya Airlines and dead body..
ReplyDelete@julaine, Thanks for the info! I knew there had to be more to the story. I'm sure it was unsettling to be that close to a dead body for ten hours, but it sounds like the airline did the best they could under the circumstances, especially if they had a doctor on board that felt that the body didn't represent a danger to the other passengers.
ReplyDeleteSelfish b1tch. It’s not very nice for the loved ones of this man to hear that she’s moaning about this ‘inconvenience’. At least she’s still alive......he isn’t.
ReplyDelete@billybob-my thoughts exactly! That is someone's son, possibly brother, father, etc. if they tried to lay him out in a peaceful repose and covered him to their best ability she shouldn't be complaining about sitting by him. Now if she actually alerted someone before he passed and they ignored her I could see her speaking up, but not grumbling about refunds.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an urban legend.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually pretty common.
ReplyDeleteMy friend fainted on our flight from SYD to LA. They cleared her row, laid her out and gave her oxygen. Also, they asked if anyone was a medical professional and found a doctor on board.
ReplyDeleteSurely that's standard?
A friend of mine was flying to the states from Japan for vacay (obviously not one flight) and on their way to Dallas she noticed her husban who was seated between their two young sons was still napping. She went to wake him up only to find that he had passed in his sleep. They still had three hours left of their flight. I don't know all the details, but I cannot imagine how that had to have gone down with her and her children right there. This was just a couple of months ago. So instead of flying home to visit family, she had to plan his funeral. My heart still breaks for them and for this man in this story and his family.
ReplyDelete@kimishoe
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness - that is HORRIBLE!!!!!!!! I am so sorry for your friend and her boys :(
@julaine - Thanks for the extra info, b/c I was a little horrified by the way the airline handled this.
ReplyDelete@kimishoe - That's HORRIBLE. :( Sorry for your friend.