AIRLINE DEATH DRAMA

Paramedics crawl on board diverted plane to retrieve dead passenger

PARAMEDICS have been forced to crawl on board a plane to remove the body of a dead passenger after the flight was diverted to Cairns International Airport.

Air New Zealand flight ANZ80, bound for Auckland, arrived in Cairns from Hong Kong about 2.30am yesterday after it was understood a male passenger died after suffering a medical emergency on board the Boeing 787-9.

Airport sources have described what happened shortly after the plane arrived on the tarmac as a “comedy of errors”. It is understood there was no ground crew available to operate an aerobridge because the airport was closed at that time of day.

An aviation source said also the pilot did not want to use the aerobridge to prevent passengers being shocked by the sight of a dead body being taken through the aircraft.

A mobile set of stairs was then requested, however, they were found to be the wrong size for the large aircraft.

This caused a major access problem for emergency services workers.

“They found a small set of stairs, which they put up to the aircraft door,” the source said.

“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.”

It is understood the body needed to be removed from the aircraft via the stairs.

The passenger’s cause death is not known.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman confirmed a police crew had been to the scene and that a report on the deceased person would be prepared for the coroner.

The incident is understood to have caused some consternation among emergency services and airport workers, who have questioned whether similar emergency situations could occur.

“This occurred for two hours, and there was no access to that aircraft,” the source said.

“In the event you get a diversion like that, there was no way to access the aircraft and deal with this emergency,” the source added.

A Cairns Airport spokeswoman confirmed there had been access issues to the Air New Zealand flight after it landed.

She said the airport was confident it had followed its own safety protocols, however, it was the responsibility of individual airlines to follow correct emergency guidelines.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said the aircraft continued onto Auckland after the medical emergency and arrived about two hours behind schedule.

“For obvious privacy reasons, we’re not able to provide further information about the passenger,” she said. of