Worst flight ever? Woman forced to spend 10 hours next to a CORPSE after fellow passenger died en route to Tanzania

By
Snejana Farberov

10:42 EST, 24 June 2012

|

01:49 EST, 25 June 2012

A Swedish woman was partially reimbursed by Kenya Airways after she was forced to sit through a ten-hour flight to Tanzania next to a dead passenger.

Lena Pettersson, a journalist with Radio Sweden, boarded a flight in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and immediately noticed that a man in his 30s who was seated directly across the aisle from her was seriously ill.

‘He was sweating and having seizures,’ she told Sveriges Radio. ‘Air hostesses were there all along, but the plane took off anyway.’

Lena Pettersson, a reporter for Radio Sweden, had to spend ten hours sitting on a plane next to a deceased man en route of Tanzania

Macabre: Lena Pettersson, a reporter for Radio Sweden, had to spend ten hours sitting on a plane next to a deceased man en route of Tanzania

The flight attendants put out a call for any passenger on board with medical experience who might be able to help, and someone eventually began performing cardiac massage on the ailing man, The Local reported.

The cabin crew tried to revive a passenger (not pictured) who went into convulsions after falling ill, but he passed away and was covered with a blanket

First aid: The cabin crew tried to revive a passenger (not pictured) who went into convulsions after falling ill, but he passed away and was covered with a blanket

However, efforts to revive the sick passenger failed, and he passed away just hours into the overnight flight bound for Dar es Salaam.

While the crew moved people seated next to the deceased man, there was nowhere for Pettersson or her friend to relocate.

‘Of course it was unpleasant, but I am not a person who makes a fuss,’ she said.

The cabin crew appeared at a loss as
to what to do next, so flight attendants wrapped the corpse in a blanket
as best they could and laid him out across three seats, Expressen.se reported.

Pettersson said the deceased man was rather tall, so his legs were sticking out across the narrow aisle, mere inches from her.

When Pettersson returned from her trip, she lodged a complaint with  Kenya Airways and demanded compensation.

Pettersson and a friend took a Kenya Airways flight from Amsterdam heading to Daar es Salaam on vacation

Freight flight: Pettersson and a friend took a Kenya Airways flight from Amsterdam heading to Daar es Salaam on vacation

After a couple of months of back-and-forth emails, she received $713 (roughly half her ticket price) and an apology.

‘I am happy with it. I think it was a reasonable substitute,’ she told Expressen.

 

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They couldn’t cram him into the overhead compartment or stuff him under the seat, so what else could they do?

On the plus side she got his peanuts

Better a stiff next to one than a huge obese person. Common in the US.
– Bob S, England, 25/6/2012 9:13
================================= Plenty of them over here too Bob. I got squashed next to one last year on a flight back from Italy. All she did was complain to the cabin crew, whilst continuing to stuff her fat face and she stank!

She should stop bitching, at least she had the armrest all to herself.

I can’t imagine why any passenger would want to be compensated because another passenger had suddenly died and was laid to rest on the nearby seats. Had she no thought for the deceased and his family? Whilst that situation wouldn’t be very pleasant, I can’t think it was worthy of compensation. She showed no compassion for this poor man’s family and just had a cheesy big grin on her face!

If the choice is between some screaming out of control brat behind me kicking my seat and their pathetic hapless incompetent ‘parents’, give me a silent corpse any time.

I’d would have asked, if I could have had his dinner.

Doesn’t she look like the cat who got the cream in the pic? The smile couldn’t be any wider! She’s so happy she got her compo she took it to the papers – even though apparantley she doesn’t like a fuss and had nothing to say to the poor mans family, except to leave them with the image of his legs sticking over the seats. I hope she chokes on the money. RIP to the poor man IN HIS 30’S!

I just laughed out loud reading this.

Aww so sad, thoughts go out to his friends and family at this difficult time. xxxxx I don’t think she had the right to do this actually it’s a bit insensitive to the man who died and his family. 🙁

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