Plane passengers ‘trapped for two hours with man’s dead body on runway’
Air New Zealand plane passengers were left grounded on the runway with a dead body for two hours after a man tragically died on board, it is reported.
The ANZ80 flight from Hong Kong to Aukland was forced to divert to Cairns International Airport in Australia in an emergency landing after a male passenger’s death, reports say.
But when it landed at about 2.30am on Monday, ground crew were allegedly not immediately available to help remove the body from the aircraft.
The crew then attempted to use a set of stairs to get the man off the aircraft, but they were too small for the plane, according to Air Live.
“They found a small set of stairs, which they put up to the aircraft door,” a source told the Cairns Post.
“They were totally insufficient. The paramedics had to put their kit on top of those stairs, and stand on that, and they were still only chest high to the door.
“They had to climb into that aircraft to attend to that matter.”
The source claimed that staff were trying to prevent other travellers seeing the man’s body.
Paramedics were eventually able to remove the body and the flight left for Auckland after a two hour delay.
An Air New Zealand spokesperson told news.com.au that there had been a medical emergency on-board the aircraft.
“NZ80 (Hong Kong – Auckland) diverted to Cairns on Monday morning when a passenger became unwell shortly after departure,” their statement read.
“As you’ll appreciate, due to privacy reasons, we’re unable to share further details about the passenger.
“After leaving Cairns, the aircraft continued on to Auckland, arriving about two hours after its scheduled arrival time.”
Mirror Online has contacted Air New Zealand for further comment.
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