Passengers on an easyJet flight from Spain to London’s Gatwick Airport claim that the airline let a dead woman board the flight, even though the staff said that she was fit to fly when she got on the plane. Those who saw the 89-year-old being wheeled in say that she looked “lifeless”. Others say they saw her carers propping up her head to make her appear “alive”. According to people on board the flight, her carers told airline staff she was unwell and had fallen asleep. Just when the flight was about to take off, the crew noticed that she was unresponsive and confirmed that she had died. The plane was turned around from the runway and delayed by 12 hours. Angry passengers are asking how the airline could allow a dead body on board the flight, while the airline has pushed back against these allegations, saying she was alive and had a valid “fit to fly” certificate.

Personal trainer and wellbeing expert Petra Boddington told The Sun that she noticed the woman at the airport. After boarding, she saw a crew member wheeling her in. She sat in a strange position, and many of the passengers reportedly expressed shock, saying, “Oh my god, she looks dead”. Boddington added, “It wasn’t just me that thought it, it was everybody else that she went past.” She says that some people saw those accompanying her “holding her head up”. The woman was put in the special assistance seat at the end of a row with her two carers next to her.

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Crew noticed the woman was unresponsive before takeoff

As the plane began preparing for takeoff, scheduled for 11:15 am, the crew noticed something was amiss with the woman during their final pre-flight checks, witnesses said. A doctor was called on board, who declared she was dead. There is no clarity over the time of her death, although easyJet maintains that she died on board and was not wheeled in in that condition. However, passengers were livid that the airline let her on board. Tracy-Ann Kitching, one of the passengers, wrote on Facebook, “easyJet – you are unbelievable! Why did you let a dead person on our flight?!”

She called out special assistance, the service that helps disabled people board a flight, saying they should have raised the issue. “I saw her wheeled onto the plane; someone was holding her head as they went past me! An actual doctor onboard [confirmed] she was already dead when they put her in her seat,” she wrote. Kitching hopes the Spanish authorities will take action against the people who brought her on board.

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