Australian couple forced to sit next to a deceased woman on an overseas flight

An Australian couple is speaking out after they say a woman died on a plane they were on and the airline forced them to sit next to her blanket-covered body for the final four hours of a 14-hour overseas flight.

Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin say they were on vacation, en route from Melbourne to Venice, Italy, via Dohar, Qatar, on a Qatar Airways flight, when a woman exited the bathroom on the plane and then collapsed in the aisle near their row. “They did everything they could, but unfortunately, the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heartbreaking to watch,” Ring told Australian news program A Current Affair.

According to Ring, airline staff tried to wheel her up to business class, but she was a large person and wouldn’t fit down the aisle, so they asked him to move over one seat, and he complied.

Flight staff then put the woman’s body covered in a blanket next to them without offering Ring and Colin another place to sit. There were other empty seats on the plane they could have moved to, according to Ring. Colin reportedly moved seats on her own.

Ring said he was told to remain seated while paramedics and emergency medical staff removed the blanket once the plane landed, and after spending the final four hours of the flight next to the body.

“It wasn’t nice,” Ring told Current Affair host Ally Langdon. Ring and Colin also say Qatar Airways offered no support for them once they arrived.

“I’m not a great flyer at the best of times”

Speaking with The New York Times, Pilot José Alvarado said deaths mid-flight are rare, but they happen. When they do, he says the body can’t stay in the aisle because it could shift during turbulence. Depending on the situation, the pilot might choose to return to the point of departure or continue to the destination. “You have very little options at 39,000 feet,” Alvarado said. Still, according to Colin, “I’m not a great flyer at the best of times. There has to be a protocol that looks after the customers on board.”

The International Air Transport Association does outline protocol for mid-flight deaths, instructing staff to put the body in a body bag if possible or otherwise cover it with a blanket. The body should then be returned to its seat or an empty seat with few passengers nearby. “Be aware of the difficulty of the situation for companions and onlookers,” the guidelines state.

“Our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away”

A couple was forced to sit next to a deceased passenger for over four hours after a woman d*ed mid-flight.

Due to her size, the crew couldn’t move her, leaving Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin with no choice but to remain in their seats beside her pic.twitter.com/Ne79vqX5QP

— Gabadiya Sam (@GABADIYASAM13) February 26, 2025

Qatar Airways responded to Ring and Colin’s claims they were asked to sit next to a dead body for four hours mid-flight, apologizing for any “inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused. First and foremost our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight,” the airline statement added.

But referring to Qatar Airways, Colin told Langdon on Australian TV, “They have a duty of care towards their customers as well as their staff. We should be contacted to make sure, do you need some support, do you need some counseling.”

Once landed, the couple was still trying to make the most of their time in Venice. “I’m trying to make the best of a pretty hard situation, but, you know, we’re on holidays, so we’re really trying to have a good time,” Colin said.