Yeetle Box - Dead Men Don't Fly

A passenger on a British Airways flight complained after he awoke on the plane to find a corpse had been placed nearby his first-class seat.

Paul Trinder said he awoke from sleeping on the nine-hour flight to find the corpse of an elderly woman who had died on the flight in a nearby seat accompanied by her grieving daughter.

According to Trinder, when he voiced his concerns, airline personnel told him to "get over it."

"They seemed to have no proper plans in place to deal with the situation," he said. "I didn't have a clue what was going on. The stewards just plonked the body down without saying a thing. Not even an introduction. I remember looking at this frail, sparrow-like woman and thinking she was very ill - in a cute sort of way. When I asked how she was doing with my best Ron Hubbard voice, I was shocked when the stewardess told me she was dead."

A spokesman for British Airways issued the following statement:

"It has always been our policy to place dead bodies in first class whenver possible. We believe it is in keeping with our highly principled customer service policy to ensure that ALL passengers receive the best comfort and services from our airline staff and facilities. Even the ones who die during the flight. Customers first: dead or alive: that's our motto."

Trinder added he was concerned with potential health issues when seated next to a dead body. "When you have a decaying body on a plane at room temperature for more than five hours there are significant health and safety risks," he said. "I don't know what they are, but it sounds good to say it."

The statement issued by British Airways noted:

"It is our policy to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of all passengers and airline employees. Mr. Trinder should be remined that we did place large amounts of ice on the body in order to slow the decay. We have issued 20,000 frequent flier miles to the corpse, and hope she chooses British Airways in the future for all her flight needs."

British Airways is the UK's largest international scheduled airline, flying to over 550 destinations at convenient times, to the best located airports. Whether customers are in the air or on the ground, British Airways takes pride in providing a full service experience.