Couple forced to sit next to woman’s dead body after she died on 15-hour flight

The couple were sat next to the body for approximately four hours

Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were en route from Melbourne, Australia to Doha, Qatar when the unidentified female passenger suffered a medical emergency in the aisle during through the long-haul Qatar Airways flight.

Ring told 'A Current Affair': "Unfortunately the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heartbreaking to watch.

"They tried to wheel her up towards business class, but she was quite a large lady and they couldn’t get her through the aisle."

The Australian couple had two spare seats in their row of four and they say they were asked to move over so they could prop the corpse up alongside them.

"They placed the lady in the chair I was in," Ring said.

Ring claims he spent four hours sitting next to the woman’s blanket-covered body. 

When they finally landed, the couple — who were flying to Italy — said the airline crew told them to remain in their seats while first responders came to retrieve the body.

Qatar Airways said they were in the process of reaching out to the couple in the wake of the ordeal. 

“First and foremost our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight,” a Qatar Airways spokesperson said in a statement.

They continued: "We apologise for any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused, and are in the process of contacting passengers in line with our policies and procedures."