Qatar Airways Responds After Couple Had to Sit Next to Dead Body

Originally appeared on E! Online

Qatar Airways is speaking out.

After Australian couple Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin came forward saying that they were forced to sit next to a dead body for four hours of a recent flight from Melbourne to Doha, the airline defended the actions of its crew members who were simply following protocol based on the “unfortunate reality” of the situation after a passenger suddenly collapsed and died.

“Passengers were accommodated to other seats, and a crew member was sitting at all times with the deceased passenger for the duration of the flight until landing in Doha,” Qatar Airways said in a statement to People Feb. 28, noting that its crew acted “in line with training and industry standard practice.”

The airline added that its flight attendants treated the difficult matter “with as much respect and dignity as possible” and said that it had offered compensation and support to the family of the woman who died on the flight, as well as to those passengers who were “directly affected” by the situation on the plane.

E! News has reached out to Qatar Airways for comment and has not yet heard back.

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The airline’s version of events differs from that of the couple, who claim they were offered no such support after being asked to “move over” to make space for the deceased woman’s body, which was subsequently put in Ring’s former seat and covered with a blanket.

The couple added that they were told they couldn’t leave their seats for the remainder of the flight, despite being seated next to the corpse and there being open seats nearby.

“There were a few spare seats I could see around us,” Ring said on A Current Affair after the incident. “I can’t believe they told us to stay…it wasn’t nice.”

“They have a duty of care towards their customers as well as their staff, we should be contacted to make sure — do you need some support, do you need some counseling?” he went on. “I don’t really know how I feel and would like to speak to somebody to make sure I’m alright.”

As for Colin, she said the entire situation has left her “traumatized.”

Qatar Airways had previously released a statement about the incident expressing condolences for the family of the deceased.

“First and foremost our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight,” a spokesperson for the airline told news.com.au a few days earlier. “We apologize for any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused, and are in the process of contacting passengers in line with our policies and procedures.”