Family wheels 'dead' grandmother on easyJet flight

A UK family reportedly wheeled a dead elderly passenger onto an easyJet flight from Spain to the UK under the pretence that she was asleep, resulting delay of almost 12 hours. Airline claims woman died shortly after boarding.

Passengers on the flight from Malaga, UK to Gatwick, Spain claimed that the 89-year-old woman had been brought onto the aircraft in a wheelchair by family members, who told staff she was unwell and asleep.

The aircraft had begun taxiing for take-off when the cabin crew were alerted to concerns about the woman’s condition. The plane was then returned to the terminal, where she was pronounced dead.

Numerous passengers said on social media that they believed the woman had already died before the flight departed, though easyJet has denied the claims and stated that the woman had a fit-to-fly certificate and was alive before boarding the flight.

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.’

In a statement, a spokesperson for Spain’s Civil Guard confirmed officers attended the aircraft after being notified of the incident.

“She was pronounced dead on the aircraft, which had been due to leave Malaga for London shortly after 11:00,” the spokesperson said.

‘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: ‘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.

No arrests were reported, and it is not known what happened to the woman’s family following the incident.