Australian couple say it ‘wasn’t nice’ sitting with corpse on long-haul flight

Qatar Airways apologised “for any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused”. PHOTO: AFP

UPDATED Feb 26, 2025, 11:06 AM

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SYDNEY – An Australian couple have criticised Qatar Airways after a blanket-draped corpse was seated next to them during a long-haul flight.

Mr Mitchell Ring said a passenger died part-way through the 14-hour flight from Melbourne to Doha last week.

“They tried to wheel her up towards business class, but she was quite a large lady and they couldn’t get her through the aisle,” he told Australian network Nine News this week.

“They looked a bit frustrated, then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me.”

Mr Ring said he was made to wait next to the corpse even after the plane landed.

“The ambulance officers and the police came in, and the ambulance officers started pulling the blankets off the lady,” he said. “It wasn’t nice.”

Mr Ring and his wife, Ms Jennifer Colin, were seated next to the corpse while en route to Venice.