Im Zuge solch extrem langer Nonstopstrecken tauchen Dinge auf, über die ich mir bislang kaum Gedanken gemacht habe.
In pilots.de läuft derzeit eine mehr oder weniger pietätvolle Diskussion über "was ist, wenn jemand auf dem Flug verstirbt?".
Offensichtlich werden dafür "Crew-Compartments" genutzt.
siehe
>>Space for corpse in new SIA Airbus
By Alvin Chiang
A STORAGE compartment for the flight crew where they can also tuck in a dead body?
It might sound a bit like Cluedo.
But, seriously, what if a passenger dies on a flight?
Singapore Airlines (SIA) now has room to deal with such a situation too.
You will find it on the new Airbus 345, introduced in February by SIA to fly direct from Singapore to Los Angeles.
It has a compartment about 1.8m long, 0.5m wide, and 0.4m high.
Located at the tail end of the plane where economy class passengers are seated, the compartment is near the last door on the right side of the plane - and it's big enough to store a body.
Only one such compartment exists on the Airbus 345.
It's just another measure of the care taken by the airline which won the passenger service award from the Air Transport World magazine this year.
Mr Rick Clements, SIA's vice-president of public affairs, said: 'On the rare occasion when a passenger passes away during a flight, our crew do all (that is) possible to manage the situation with sensitivity and respect.
'Unfortunately, given the space constraints in an aircraft cabin, it is not always possible to find a row of seats where the deceased passenger can be placed and covered in a dignified manner, although this is always the preferred option.'
Mr Clements stressed the compartment would be used 'only if no suitable space can be found elsewhere in the cabin'.
Fortunately, it has not had to be used as a flying mortuary yet.
No-one has died - it has been happy landings so far, said an SIA flight attendant who didn't want to be named.
USED BY THE CREW
She said: 'The flight crew have been using the compartment to store personal items, like bags, since there were no dead bodies to be stored.'
Mr Clements said: 'This compartment can be used for general storage, and crew members are allowed to place personal items in there.'
The flight attendant went for a three-day safety training session for the Airbus 345 in January.
She said: 'We were shown the compartment and it was pretty obvious what the compartment was built for since it looked like a perfect fit for a human body.
'We didn't spend too much time on it, though.'<<
