Originally Posted By debtee <If it were me, there is no way they would place a dead body near me without a loud protest. I'd feel terrible for the family members, but get real. And if it were forced upon me, you better believe they'd want to refund my ticket or do something to placate me.> I do agree with this Ursula. I cannot understand, once this had happened, why they did not give this guy and any other passengers effected by this situation in first class or any other class, some special attention on landing...leaving him on the plane to answer questions and telling him to get over it is wrong. Had BA treated this man better I'm sure we would not have known this incident occured.
Originally Posted By Ursula And it is not that I am afraid of dead bodies. I've been to my share of funerals my entire life. For me, I don't know the dead person, nor the family. I have no idea what they died from, nor do I care to see a person that soon after their death, covered up or not. They put the person in a seatbelt? Really? It is terribly disrespectful to both the living and the deceased. A lavatory would have been more private. They very easily could have covered up the loo with blankets and wrapped the body in blankets, too.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka <<I'd also assume that people who handle first class should mentally be able to handle a corpse>> What?
Originally Posted By Ursula ^ Yeah, I guess those in coach are too stupid to make enough money to know how to deal with a corpse. HA!
Originally Posted By Ursula I just read a quick entry on one of the online British papers where you can post remarks to this story. One lady had not only called for the First Class passenger to get a refund, she also wants a refund for the deceased's family memebers because the deceased didn't get her full flight as paid for.
Originally Posted By Mr X >>>because they get free liquor, i guess.<<< lol. I still stand by my assertion. If he was so damned uncomfortable, he could have moved on back to coach. No refund. Why? Cause it was HIS problem. He paid a lot for his seat, sure. But things happen. And there really wasn't much more the staff could have done, given the circumstances. I think the fact he was in first class has a lot to do with this story getting so much attention too. If a coach passenger tried to say the same thing, all we'd hear is "well, where are you SUPPOSED to put a dead body?". Oh, and stick the corpse in the bathroom? I can't believe some of you are even suggesting that! Seriously. A little respect for the deceased, please? If it was MY loved one they were trying to stick in the toilet, you can bet *I'D* be the one screaming and going to the press, and I wouldn't stop at asking for a refund either! Geez!
Originally Posted By Mr X Jon, from your description I take it it's been a while since you've flown on a 747 lol. Those luxury days are over...they just pack in the seats these days! I did enjoy my upper deck flight from Japan once, though. Much more quiet and private, bathrooms always available, and it was neat to be so far above the runway at takeoff. Very tranquil up there. As for luxury, well airbus is doing the song and dance about the A-380 being fit for casinos, gyms, snack bars, etc., but in the long run (probably short run) the airlines will just want to cram in more seats I'm sure. The A-380, by the way, does come with a morgue option. As SuperDry said, it'll be airlines choice. I'm guessing after this story some of them will actually take that particular option.
Originally Posted By debtee Yes but he WAS a first class passenger and due to the cost of the ticket one would expect better service then for those in Economy! If I had paid that amount of money for 1st class ( not that I can afford it mind you,) then I would want special treatment and not to have some dead body plonked next to me, also being in first class means you get the luxury of getting off the plane first, that's part of the service and that didn't happen either!
Originally Posted By debtee <The A-380, by the way, does come with a morgue option.> Lol that's funny! Would have saved all this bother!
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<Oh, and stick the corpse in the bathroom? I can't believe some of you are even suggesting that! Seriously. A little respect for the deceased, please? >> I was joking.
Originally Posted By Mr X >>>Yes but he WAS a first class passenger and due to the cost of the ticket one would expect better service then for those in Economy!<<< There are limits, Deb. In this case, would you really keep the corpse in crowded conditions, most likely near children? There was really not much choice here. As for him being detained, I really wonder why? What could he possibly have to offer to police (that the cabin crew didn't already know, I mean)?
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Does anyone know if there were other first class passengers? >>> There must have been. Otherwise, they could have placed the deceased passenger several seats away from the passenger in the article. <<< How about the flight crews jump seats? >>> On a US-registered aircraft, this would be illegal. Only crew or jumpseat-certified individuals are allowed to sit there. The captain of course can waive any rule that he determines necessary for the safe operation of the flight, but in this case, it wasn't a safety issue. I would assume that British aviation authorities have similar rules. <<< Is the cargo hold accessible from the passenger compartment? >>> Generally, no. Regarding him being "held" on the aircraft for questioning, from the description of it, it was for a police investigation. It would seem to me that the key thing the police would want to do is rule out foul play. While the police are doing their jobs, everyone does as they are told. It doesn't sound like a customer service issue to me.
Originally Posted By Mr X Russ, I'm glad you were joking. I thought someone suggested that as a serious option though (if not, my bad).
Originally Posted By RoadTrip The airlines can give a free upgrade to First Class to anyone they want. This time BA wanted to upgrade a stiff. So what? It could have been worse. They could have upgraded a woman with a wailing baby. ;-)
Originally Posted By Mr X One more thing to consider...if it was really so bumpy, I'd imagine they COULDN'T prop up the woman in a tiny economy class seat...only a first class seat would be large enough for all the pillows and such. Anyway, I do agree BA should have just refunded the guys ticket just to avoid the bad press, but that doesn't mean I think he's entitled to it. And as for the "get over it" part, I've read other articles where that didn't seem to be the case (they were apologetic, but it was unavoidable).
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Anyway, I do agree BA should have just refunded the guys ticket just to avoid the bad press, but that doesn't mean I think he's entitled to it. >>> The thing is, they don't know which situations in advance are going to wind up in the paper, which has a lot having to do with whether it's a slow news day, and if there are other aviation "bad service" stories in the news recently. It's not just this guy's ticket, but the 100 other people that feel they've somehow been wronged and want their money back.
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy <In this case, would you really keep the corpse in crowded conditions, most likely near children?> Yes, because it's more hush-hush and unnoticeable. If you leave the body there, cover it up like someone is maybe napping, it could go by rather undetected. Carrying a lifeless body up the aisle is sure to draw attention and questions. Oh wait, but the loved ones were wailing and screaming---so much for subltety in that plan.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< As for luxury, well airbus is doing the song and dance about the A-380 being fit for casinos, gyms, snack bars, etc., but in the long run (probably short run) the airlines will just want to cram in more seats I'm sure. >>> The press was saying the same things about the 747 when it was first introduced 35 years ago. Airbus certainly encouraged this sort of thing because it gave them immeasurable free publicity. I'm pretty sure that I read a comment from an airline executive right along the lines of what you said: give me more room, and I'll put in more seats. He didn't mean cram more seats in, but that they'll just put in more seats in their standard configurations in order to hold more passengers. Also, did you know that Airbus apparently approached Japanese airlines about delivering an all-coach configuration for domestic use that would seat 840 passengers? Airbus designed the A380 in terms of emergency exits so that it could get type certified for that many passengers so that option would at least be open to them someday (they have to prove that they can evacuate all passengers in 90 seconds with half the exits blocked).
