- Passengers say they were offered 10 francs after returning to Bangkok airport
Horrified air passengers screamed and were left ‘traumatised’ yesterday when a German husband started coughing up ‘litres of blood’ in front of his wife before collapsing and dying mid-flight.
The 63-year-old traveller, who has not been named, was said to have boarded the Lufthansa flight from Bangkok to Munich visibly ill before his condition rapidly deteriorated.
‘It was absolute horror, everyone was screaming,’ fellow passenger Karin Missfelder, a nursing specialist from Switzerland, told Swiss-German outlet Blick.
The man had got on with ‘cold sweats’ and was ‘breathing much too quickly’ before passengers rushed to help him, offering tea and taking his pulse, Missfelder explained.
But as the plane took off, he went quickly downhill. The man was said to have been spitting into a bag when a ‘gush of blood’ came out of his mouth and nose, splattering the walls of the Airbus A380 aircraft.
Illustrative image of an Airbus A380. A man died flying from Bangkok to Munich on Thursday
Sharing vivid recollections, passengers told the outlet how flight attendants rushed to resuscitate the man after the tragic eruption.
Ms Missfelder said staff kept up their attempts for about half an hour but it was clear the man could not be saved.
She said she blamed herself for not speaking out before take-off when she realised the man was sick.
The man was carried into the galley of the plane as the captain announced the death.
The flight was then forced to turn around, returning to Bangkok Airport where passengers complained they were left to wait without guidance for two hours.
Travellers on board said the wife of the man who had died had to walk alone through customs as they were rebooked on another flight via Hong Kong.
‘She stood there all alone and apathetic and had to endure all the formalities,’ Mr Martin Missfelder told Blick.
He said it was ‘unacceptable’ that Lufthansa ’30 traumatised passengers’ were left to wait without direction – and said he hopes for an apology to the group and the wife of the deceased.
Passengers also claim they were offered a 10-franc voucher (£9.06). It was not clear from local reports what the voucher was intended for.
MailOnline contacted Lufthansa for comment.
In January 2024, a passenger was found dead in a plane toilet during a flight from Tenerife, Spain to Manchester, England.
Travellers aboard the Jet2 flight alerted staff after they noticed the bathroom on board had been occupied for some time.
The crew discovered the man, who has not been named, had died, prompting plane to divert to Cork in Ireland.
Lufthansa confirmed a man had died on a flight to Swiss-German outlet Blick
‘Flight LS918 from Tenerife to Manchester diverted to Cork Airport on Tuesday January 2, due to a customer requiring medical attention,’ a Jet2 spokesman told MailOnline.
‘Regrettably, we can confirm that the customer sadly passed away, despite the best efforts of our highly-trained crew who intervened as soon as they became aware.
‘This was an extremely difficult situation for our crew and we would like to thank them for their efforts.
‘Our thoughts are with the customer’s family and friends at this very difficult time.’
