A British grandmother wheeled onto a easyJet flight “looked dead”, fellow passengers have said.
A group of five relatives was seen helping their 89-year-old gran on board the flight from Spain to Gatwick Airport on Thursday.
Witnesses claimed they overheard the family telling staff she was merely unwell and had fallen asleep.
And now, a fellow flyer has told The Sun that the ‘fragile old lady’ was clearly not fit to travel.
Petra Boddington, a wellbeing expert, told the newspaper: ‘People turned in their seats and went, ‘oh my god, she looks dead’.
‘She was a fragile, old lady who was curled up and doubled over in a chair in a not very comfortable position.
‘Anybody with eyes could see that she was not fit to fly and it wasn’t just me that thought it, it was everybody else that she went past.
‘People sat in front of me even said they’d seen the people that were with her holding her head up.
‘We all thought that she looked dead.’
The pilot turned the plane around before leaving the runway after the cabin crew were alerted to woman’s death, and the flight was delayed by 12 hours.
EasyJet has said the claims are unfounded and explained that the woman had a fit-to-fly certificate and was alive before boarding the flight.
But Tracy-Ann Kitching, allegedly another passenger, took to Facebook to share her outrage.
She wrote on Facebook: ‘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.’
‘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.’
Petra, a British expat, also said: ‘As soon as the plane turned around and the captain announced there had been a medical emergency, everybody turned to each other and said, ‘well we know why’.’
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.
Petra Boddington was among them, saying in a video on Facebook: ‘EasyJet, when did you start letting dead people onto planes?’
She continued: ‘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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