{"id":42820,"date":"2025-04-23T03:45:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T03:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/42820\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T03:45:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T03:45:17","slug":"mystery-surrounding-death-of-british-airways-flight-attendant-45-found-dead-in-san-francisco-hotel-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/42820\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery surrounding death of British Airways flight attendant, 45, found dead in San Francisco hotel room"},"content":{"rendered":"

A British Airways<\/a> flight attendant who was found dead in his hotel room during an American stopover is a father of three young children.<\/p>\n

Irfan Ali Mirza, 45, landed in San Francisco from London Heathrow airport last Tuesday and had a two-day layover before the return flight.<\/p>\n

However, he failed to report for duty on Thursday after staying at the crew hotel, sparking concern from his colleagues.<\/p>\n

After failing to raise him on the phone, hotel managers unlocked the room, where they found Mirza, from London, dead in his bed.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco\u00a0Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed his identity to the Daily Mail on Tuesday as his family mourned him on social media.<\/p>\n

Police said the responding officers’ investigation of the scene ‘did not discover any evidence of foul play’ and the body was taken by the medical examiner.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Office of the Chief Medical Examiner refused to provide any more information, including cause of death or if it still had possession of Mirza’s body.<\/p>\n

\"British <\/p>\n

British Airways flight attendant Irfan Ali Mirza, 45, (back row, second from left)\u00a0was found dead in his hotel room during an American stopover. Pictured on a trip last August<\/p>\n

\"Mirza <\/p>\n

Mirza (pictured with his extended family) was a father of three young children<\/p>\n

\"After <\/p>\n

After failing to raise him on the phone, hotel managers unlocked the room, where they found Mirza, from London, dead in his bed (stock photo of a room from the hotel)<\/p>\n

Mirza was mourned online by his family and dozens of shocked colleagues who worked with him during his more than 20-year career in the skies.<\/p>\n

His brother Kamran Mirza thanked his brother’s colleagues for their outpouring of support, and asked they keep his family in their prayers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Cannot express how hard it is that Irfan left his parents, us three siblings and his wife and three young children behind. It’s totally heartbreaking,’ he wrote.<\/p>\n

The youngest of Mirza’s children was a baby born only last year.<\/p>\n

Kamran said he looked up to him as the brothers lived together after the rest of their immediate family moved, and often picked him up from Heathrow.<\/p>\n

‘It has really shocked me and the rest of the family that Irfan is not with us anymore. Cannot express what we are going through right now,’ he wrote.<\/p>\n

‘We both were born in the same month, June, only 4 days apart. There were times we celebrated our birthday at the same time. Now that moment will never come again. It’s heartbreaking.’<\/p>\n

Mirza’s youngest brother, Rizzy Mirza, also thanked his British Airways colleagues for their kind words and stories.<\/p>\n

‘I cannot begin to express the sudden loss of my beautiful brother. It really has cut the family deep,’ he wrote.<\/p>\n

‘Looking at all your lovely messages brings me some peace knowing that my brother was well loved and respected amongst you all.’<\/p>\n

\"Mirza <\/p>\n

Mirza (back of the group) was mourned online by dozens of shocked colleagues who worked with him during his career in the skies<\/p>\n

\"Mirza <\/p>\n

Mirza with his wife Jai Mirza, mother of his three young children<\/p>\n

His younger sister Amber said they had a close bond and she treasured amazing childhood memories they made together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘He guided me throughout my whole life and his loss now has deeply affected us all. I know he loved his job and always has great stories to tell when he got back,’ she wrote.<\/p>\n

‘Seeing all these lovely messages remembering him brings a smile to know he was loved and respected. His memory lives on forever in our hearts.’<\/p>\n

The BA 284 flight from San Francisco International Airport to London\u00a0Heathrow<\/a>\u00a0due to depart at 4.20pm on April 17\u00a0was cancelled.<\/p>\n

Passengers were not told why the flight was cancelled, and were given hotel rooms while alternative arrangements were made.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crewmates were reportedly too upset to fly after the grim discovery was made.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Heartbroken fellow cabin crew offered their own tributes to a beloved colleague, and shared memories of their time together.<\/p>\n

‘Irfan was an amazing, kind soul. I first flew with Irfan on a Hong Kong flight\u2026 it was an unforgettable trip,’\u00a0Bailey Patter wrote.<\/p>\n

‘We would always giggle about it over the years to come. My heart goes out to friends and family of Irfan, he was a true gentleman and will be\u00a0greatly missed.’<\/p>\n

\"Mirza <\/p>\n

Mirza was called ‘the life of the party’ by his colleagues, whom he kept entertained on layovers<\/p>\n

\"Mirza <\/p>\n

Mirza (top right) with colleagues during their downtime between flights<\/p>\n

Danielle Crane added: ‘Irfan was one of the most genuine, funniest and kindest crew members I\u2019ve had the pleasure to have flown with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I was also on the extended Nassau trip with him last year and he really did make it fun and had us all laughing. The world is a sadder place\u00a0without him in it.’<\/p>\n

Sarah Atkinson wrote: ‘He had great sense of humour and fun, but above all he was a darling man with the kindest heart. He was a treasure to know.<\/p>\n

‘I am so incredibly sorry for your\u00a0loss. He loved his family so deeply and I hope in time, you may be able to take some comfort in knowing how much we, his flying family, loved him also.’<\/p>\n

Dutchie Wallis added: ‘Irfan was a sheer joy to fly with. He had pure sunshine in his soul and lit up a room with his expansive smile. He had the loveliest sense of humour that would make us giggle out loud.’<\/p>\n

Karen Nelson, who was one of the last air crew to fly with him, recalled a recent trip to Italy they took together.<\/p>\n

‘I recently spent my Bologna standover with Irfan. We had a fabulous day along with Michael our IFL,’ she wrote.<\/p>\n

‘We visited the sights and enjoyed a fab late lunch together chatting about all sorts. Such a lovely\u00a0gentle guy. I will treasure that wonderful day.’<\/p>\n

\"His <\/p>\n

His brother Kamran Mirza (right, with Mirza) said he looked up to him as the brothers lived together after the rest of their immediate family moved<\/p>\n

\"Mirza <\/p>\n

Mirza with one of his young children whom he would never make it home to<\/p>\n

Others called Mirza\u00a0‘life and soul of the party’, an\u00a0‘incredibly kind, funny and clever man’ who ‘always spoke so highly of his family’.<\/p>\n

‘He was such a professional, cared so much about his job.’<\/p>\n

It was unclear how long Mirza lay undiscovered – he may have been there for as long as two days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pilots who had gone on ahead to the airport to prepare for the flight also returned to the hotel to comfort colleagues.<\/p>\n

British Airways on Sunday confirmed that the man was a member of its crew.<\/p>\n

In a statement to the Sun<\/a>, it said: ‘Our thoughts and condolences are with the family and friends of our colleague at this difficult time.’<\/p>\n

Sources told the newspaper: ‘There was no way the flight back from San Francisco could go ahead. Staff were in absolute bits at the sudden loss of their friend.<\/p>\n

‘The steward was a popular member of the team and this came as a bolt from the blue.’<\/p>\n

\"British <\/p>\n

British Airways has confirmed a member of crew has died in American during a stopover between flights<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The flight was cancelled, as was a return leg from Heathrow, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium<\/p>\n

The flight, BA 284, involved an Airbus A380-800, which the airline says can carry up to 469 passengers across four classes.<\/p>\n

The return journey, BA 285, from London<\/a>\u00a0to SFO, was also cancelled the next day after being due to depart London at 10.45am, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.<\/p>\n

BA, Marriott and local authorities in San Francisco were contacted for further comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, a British Airways pilot aged 47 died during a stopover between flights on the Caribbean island of St Lucia.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Senior First Officer had collapsed at a luxury hotel in front of shocked guests, according to contemporary reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His death meant that BA had to cancel a flight from Vieux Fort to London Gatwick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A British Airways flight attendant who was found dead in his hotel room during an American stopover is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3087,92,13,12,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-42820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-british-airways","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114385225425544478","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}