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Airline passengers 'forced to sit with dead body' on flight to Moscow

Woman’s husband reportedly says she packed insulin in hold luggage as she did not think she would need it

Tom Embury-Dennis
Wednesday 12 October 2016 16:25 BST
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A corpse was laid next to passengers after a 50-year-old woman died mid-flight (file pic).
A corpse was laid next to passengers after a 50-year-old woman died mid-flight (file pic).

Airline passengers were reportedly forced to sit next a dead body after a woman died on board a flight.

The 50-year-old Russian - who suffered from diabetes - suffered acute heart failure just 45 minutes after leaving Turkey for Moscow on an Azur Air Boeing 757.

The woman’s husband said she had packed insulin in her hold luggage as she did not think she would need it, according to REN TV.

He reportedly claimed she had given herself a shot of the medication an hour before the flight and presumed it would be enough to get through the journey.

A source told REN TV that the captain decided against making an emergency landing and that the woman’s body was laid in the aisle with a blanket over it instead.

The plane reportedly flew on to Moscow with the corpse laid out on the floor for nearly three hours before they touched down.

Although deaths on flights happen very rarely, airlines do have procedures for when it happens.

Generally the cabin crew will first try and store the body away from passengers. A corpse will be placed on an empty row of seats or in first class if there is space.

On crowded flights it may have to be put in the galley at the back of the plane, but in extreme cases can be covered up and strapped into its seat.

Singapore Airlines has equipped planes with special “corpse cupboards” to store anyone who dies on long haul flights.

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