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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 26591, member: 2262"] Qatar Airways told the BBC they handled a passenger death correctly. This happened after a couple said sitting next to a dead person upset them badly on their flight from Melbourne to Doha. The airline first said sorry for any problems the death caused. People started talking about what should happen when someone dies on a plane. Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were going on vacation to Venice. They said flight staff put the dead woman next to Mr. Ring for four hours at the end of their 14-hour flight. The woman fell and died in the aisle near them. Staff tried to move her body to business class but she was a bigger person and did not fit through the narrow space. Staff asked Mr. Ring to move over and put the woman in his seat. Another passenger let Ms. Colin sit with her across the aisle. Mr. Ring said staff never offered him a new seat even though empty seats were available. Qatar Airways said Friday that staff did what they were trained to do. They said passengers were given other seats, and a staff member sat with the dead passenger until landing. Deaths sometimes happen on planes across all airlines, they explained. Their staff trains hard to handle these cases with respect. The airline said they helped the dead woman's family and other passengers affected by what happened. Ms. Colin said they understood the airline was not at fault for the woman dying but asked about rules for taking care of living passengers after such events. When they landed, everyone had to stay seated as medical people and police came on the plane. Mr. Ring saw the woman's face when medical workers took off her blankets. He said he was surprised they made passengers stay on the plane and thought they should have let everyone leave first. Barry Eustance, who used to fly planes for Virgin Atlantic, said normally, crews try to keep the body away from other passengers out of respect and for health reasons. Air travel rules say a dead person should be moved to a seat with few people nearby and covered with a blanket up to the neck. The body can also go somewhere else that does not block walkways. The rules say other passengers should leave the plane before local officials take care of the body. [/QUOTE]

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