A woman died on a British Airways Hong Kong-London flight. Without an emergency landing, 331 passengers traveled with the body for about 13 hours. According to the airline, it was not an emergency and all procedures were followed.
Usually, when there is a medical emergency or someone dies on a flight, the plane makes an emergency landing at a nearby airport. But in a shocking case, a woman died just an hour after the flight took off. Despite this, emergency landing of the plane was not made and 331 passengers had to travel with the dead body for about 13 hours.
The journey continued without emergency landing
The incident happened on British Airways flight BA32 on Sunday. This flight was going from Hong Kong in China to London Heathrow Airport in Britain. A 60-year-old female passenger died about an hour after the flight took off. But instead of declaring it a medical emergency, the pilots decided to continue the journey. Because of this, the remaining passengers had to travel in the plane with the dead body for about thirteen and a half hours.
Passengers travel with dead body for thirteen and a half hours
When the flight crew learned of the woman’s death, they placed the body in the rear of the plane, where the floor is heated. According to Fox News report, it was an Airbus A350-1000 plane and the woman died just an hour after taking off from Hong Kong.
Despite the passenger’s death, the pilots decided to continue the flight to Heathrow rather than return to Hong Kong. This is because the normal death of a passenger is not generally considered a medical emergency. The crew first considered keeping the body in the toilet, but later wrapped it in a plastic cover and shifted it to the gallery at the rear.
The family of the deceased woman and the crew members were very upset by this incident. Many passengers wanted the flight to return to Hong Kong. But a source said that if a passenger dies naturally, it is not considered an emergency.
But due to the heating of the floor of the gallery where the body was kept, the foul smell started spreading in the rear part of the cabin. Passengers allege that the crew did not pay attention to this. As the flight was about to approach London, many of the 331 passengers and crew members complained of a strong odor coming from that area. After landing in London, police entered the plane and prevented passengers from exiting for about 45 minutes.
British Airways said in a statement that all procedures were followed correctly during the incident. The airline told Fox News, “Unfortunately, a customer died during the flight. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time. We are supporting our crew and confirm that all procedures were followed correctly.”
Let us tell you that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has some guidelines to deal with incidents like death of a passenger during flight. Usually the body is placed in a body bag or covered with a blanket up to the neck. If possible, an attempt is made to shift the body to a part of the plane where people will get less attention, such as an empty seat or another section. But if the flight is fully booked, the body is put back in its original seat.