Chaos in the skies as man dies coughing up "litres of blood" on flight from Thailand
A passenger has died after reportedly coughing up “litres of blood” on a recent flight from Thailand.
On February 8, Lufthansa flight LH773 (Airbus A380) took off from Bangkok and was on its way to Munich. Around 90 minutes into the nearly 12-hour flight, a 63-year-old man started coughing up blood through his mouth and nose, reports The Independent.
Passenger and nursing specialist Karin Missfelder told Blick, a Swiss German-language daily newspaper, that she had already noticed that the man, a German national, looked unwell before takeoff.
Suvarnabhumi International Airport (i viewfinder/Shutterstock)
“A flight attendant then reacted and asked him if he was okay; she was very worried,” recalled Missfelder.
According to the man’s wife, they had run to catch the plane, which was probably why he wasn’t feeling well. A doctor on the flight briefly checked the man’s pulse and “gave the okay.”
“They then gave him a little chamomile tea, but he already spit blood into the bag that his wife held out to him,” said Missfelder, adding that the man’s condition worsened after takeoff.
Dziurek/Shutterstock
However, the man kept spitting into the bag until blood started gushing from his mouth and nose.
“It was absolute horror; everyone was screaming,” Missfelder stated. “The man lost litres of blood. The walls were also full.”
Flight attendants immediately began resuscitation efforts, which Missfelder described as “amateurish.” They tried to resuscitate the man for about 30 minutes until it was clear that the man had died.
“It was dead quiet on board,” she said.
The man’s body was then taken to the galley, and passengers were informed that the man had died.
The flight path shows the aircraft returning to Bangkok shortly after takeoff (Flightradar24)
A representative for the airline confirmed the incident to Daily Hive in an email, stating, “After 1.5 hours of flight time, the crew decided to return to Bangkok, where the aircraft landed normally and safely. There, the instructions of the medical emergency services and the Thai authorities were followed.”
Since a doctor was looking after the man, Missfelder said she didn’t want to get involved. But now she said she blames herself and regrets the decision.
But she said she was outraged when, after returning to Bangkok, she saw the man’s widow standing alone at customs.
Suvarnabhumi International Airport (Torjrtrx/Shutterstock)
“She stood there all alone and apathetic and had to endure all the formalities,” she said. “The fact that Lufthansa has no measures in this case, that no one cares about around 30 traumatized passengers around, is unacceptable.”
According to Lufthansa, the passengers were rebooked on other flights.
“Our thoughts are with the relatives of the deceased passenger,” stated a Lufthansa representative. “We also regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers of this flight. Please understand that we cannot provide any further details in the event of medical emergencies for reasons of privacy.”