And you thought flying couldn't get any worse

When Paul Trinder woke up during the flight from Delhi to London, he thought the lady who had sat down beside him in the first-class cabin looked awfully ill, so he asked the British Airways flight attendant what was wrong.

The answer wasn't quite what he had expected. The lady that attendants had just plonked down in the seat beside Trinder wasn't sick at all. She was dead.

According to The Associated Press, the woman had died in the economy-class cabin during the flight, and attendants had moved her body and her grieving family into the first class cabin to give them some privacy. No one warned Trinder in advance; they just carried the body to the front and sat it down in the seat beside the sleeping passenger.

The AP quoted a statement from the airline that said about 10 passengers a year die in flight and, "The deceased must not be placed in the galley or blocking aisles or exits, and there should be clear space around the deceased. The wishes of family or friends traveling with the deceased will always be considered, and account taken of the reactions of other passengers."

Apparently the airline didn't include Trinder in that accounting.