A British family wheeled a dead elderly passenger onto an easyJet flight under the pretence that she was asleep, holidaymakers have claimed.
A group of five relatives were seen helping their 89-year-old grandmother board the flight from Spain to Gatwick Airport, but witnesses say they overheard the family telling staff she was merely unwell and had fallen asleep.
The plane was turned around before leaving the runway after the cabin crew were alerted that the woman had died, and the flight was delayed by 12 hours.
EasyJet said the claims were unfounded and explained that the woman had a fit-to-fly certificate and was alive before boarding the flight.
Concerned passengers said a clerk asked about the woman’s health before the family tried to board, but they insisted she was ‘just tired’.
The plane began taxiing to the runway, but abruptly stopped just before take-off when suspicious cabin crew realised she was dead, witnesses claimed.
Several passengers shared their reaction on social media, in which they claimed to have seen the deceased woman.
Passenger Petra Boddington claimed she saw the woman ‘slumped unconscious in a wheelchair’ in a video she shared on Facebook explaining what she witnessed.
‘EasyJet, when did you start letting dead people onto planes?’ she said in the video, which has more than 58,000 views.
‘EasyJet ground staff actually allowed someone who looked completely dead onto the plane and then, funnily enough, just as we were about to take off, they died.’
She added that the company would typically deny people from flying ‘if you were drunk, but apparently it’s okay if you’re dead and you look dead’.
She claims hearing the family tell ground staff that their relative was ‘absolutely fine’
‘She was not absolutely fine,’ Petra said.
‘So, easyjet, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Your ground staff were awful today.’
Another passenger, Tracy-Ann Kitching, expressed her anger at easyJet’s handling of the situation.
In a Facebook post, she wrote: ‘easyJet – you are unbelievable! Why did you let a dead person on our flight?
‘Special assistance [the service for boarding passengers with a disability or reduced mobility] are responsible too; they should have raised the issue.’
She claimed that the family brushed past her as she saw the woman get ‘wheeled into the plane’ while someone held her head.
Tracy shared her sympathies for the family and praised the airline staff for reassuring concerned passengers.
She said their testimonies would be used to help the co-pilot write a report on the events of the flight.
It remains unknown what happened to the woman or her family members after her body was removed from the plane.
Though it is believed no arrests were made.
The flight was scheduled to leave Malaga at 11.15am on Friday and was expected to land at 1.10pm.
However, passengers were forced to wait nearly 12 hours as the flight did not depart until 10.47pm local time before landing at Gatwick at midnight.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Malaga confirmed officers were called onto the plane because of the elderly British woman.
They said: ‘She was pronounced dead on the aircraft which had been due to leave Malaga for London just after 11am yesterday morning.
‘She was permitted to fly because she had a medical ‘fit to fly’ certificate and was being supported by medical personnel during her journey.’
A spokesperson for easyJet said: ‘Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the customer who sadly passed away, and we are offering support and assistance at this difficult time.
‘She was permitted to fly because she had a medical “fit to fly” certificate and was being supported by medical personnel during her journey.
‘It was only after boarding the customer then required medical assistance and she sadly passed away.
‘The wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority and we would ask customers for their understanding in these circumstances.’
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