Passengers travelling on a 14-hour British Airways flight to London complained of a “foul smell” after a woman passed away on board.
A woman in her 60s died shortly after take off on a flight from Hong Kong to London Heathrow on 15 March.
Following the decision to store the body in a heated galley towards the rear of the plane, passengers claimed they could smell a bad odour.
A source told The Sun that the family and several crew members were “distraught” following the incident.
They added: “A discussion was had about what to do with the body, with the flight deck’s request to lock it in a toilet rejected by crew.
“So they had to isolate the body, wrap it in materials, and move it to a galley at the rear of the plane.
“The galley had a heated floor, which some crew had overlooked, and towards the end of the flight there were claims that a foul smell was present in that region.”
Guidelines from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) state that when a person has been declared dead, they should be moved to an isolated seat, put back into their own seat or “at the crew's discretion, into another area not obstructing an aisle or exit”.
According to the source, the situation was not considered an emergency as the passenger had already died.
The Airbus A350-1000 aircraft touched down at 4.52am with 331 passengers on board following the 14-hour flight.
Police met flight BA32 after landing at Heathrow, with passengers asked to remain in their seats for 45 minutes while they carried out investigations.
A British Airways spokesperson said, “A customer sadly passed away on board, and our thoughts are with their family and friends at this difficult time.
“We are supporting our crew, and all procedures were correctly followed.”
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