A family recently traveling from Hong Kong to London on British Airways flight BA32 saw one of their loved ones pass away just an hour after takeoff on the international flight. The traveler, a woman in her 60s, died shortly after takeoff, and the pilot and crew decided to continue on the journey to the United Kingdom, while the deceased passenger’s body was moved to the galley.

British Airways was operating from Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) on Sunday, March 15, when the passenger passed away. The situation of a passenger dying on an aircraft due to natural means is not classed as an emergency, and would not always stipulate the aircraft making an emergency landing; thus, the actions of this captain to continue the journey to England were not deemed inappropriate.

Passed Away Shortly After Takeoff

Credit: Shutterstock

The flight was operating with 331 passengers onboard, and when the traveller was found to be deceased, her family, traveling with her, were unsurprisingly distraught. Common practice for when a passenger dies onboard is to leave them located in their allocated seat, covered up to the neck, or relocated to a position that is out of the view of other passengers.

According to The Sun, a request from the flight deck to place the deceased passenger in a toilet and lock the door was rejected, so the decision was made to relocate the woman to the galley at the rear of the aircraft. Nearing the end of the over 13-hour flight, several travellers complained that they could smell the dead body, which was found to be in a galley that had a heated floor, which, as a result, did not help in preserving the body.

On arrival in the United Kingdom, the flight was met by the police, and all passengers onboard were requested to remain in their allocated seats while an investigation was carried out. The Standard noted that due to the unique situation encountered onboard, some of the flight crew have reportedly been off work due to ‘trauma’.

BA32: Flight Details

Credit: Flightradar24

Oneworld carrier, British Airways, operates a daily service between Hong Kong and London, and is just one of two carriers operating the city pair (the other being Cathay Pacific, which operates multiple daily services between HKG and LHR. The flight on Sunday, March 15, pushed back from the gate at 11:07 pm, around 22 minutes after its expected departure time of 10:45 pm.

Operated by the airline’s Airbus A350-1000, the aircraft departed from HKG in an eastward direction, quickly climbing to operate around the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) before getting to its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet above mainland China. Data from Flightradar24 identifies that one hour after takeoff, the reported time the passenger passed away, placed the flight above Guiyang, China, the capital of the Guizhou province, and home to around 4.5 million inhabitants.

As already mentioned, the flight continued onto London, passing over northwestern China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, eastern Europe, before crossing Austria, Germany, and Belgium before descending into the British capital. The service touched down at LHR at 4:46 am the next day, 49 minutes ahead of its scheduled arrival time of 5:35 am.

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G-XWBC: The Airbus A350-1000 Operating The Flight

Credit: Lukas Souza | Simple Flying

The aircraft operating the flight in which the death occurred was Airbus A350-1041 bearing registration G-XWBC (serial number 362). The plane is 6.4 years old and was delivered to British Airways on November 26, 2019.

Equipped to transport a total of 331 passengers across three classes, including 56 Club World (business), 56 World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy), and 219 World Traveller (economy class). Further characteristics of the aircraft below, with data from ch-aviation:

Simple Flying extends its condolences to the family of the deceased passenger at this difficult time.