Airline Loads Plastic Forks, Leaves Dead Bodies

Employees at a New York City airport reportedly forgot about two bodies in coffins that were supposed to be loaded onto a plane bound for Pakistan.

According to BBC.com, the two bodies arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and were supposed to be loaded onto a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight destined for Lahore on October 28.

Coincidentally, the flight from NYC to Lahore was scheduled to be the last PIA journey between the two cities.

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Airline officials believe PIA employees at JFK airport removed the coffins from the aircraft in order to make room for other amenities, including tea bags, plastic forks and napkins. Instead of placing the bodies back onto the plane, the employees left them in the loading area of the airport.

Due to the fact that PIA was no longer running direct flights between the cities, Etihad Airways was tasked with transporting one of the bodies back to Pakistan from New York City. The family of the deceased collected the coffin once the flight landed safely in Lahore.

The other man’s body was collected by family members in the United States and he was buried in Maryland. Both families criticized PIA for its lack of communication and how the airline handled the situation.

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PIA officials said the carrier would pay all additional costs associated with transporting the bodies and has launched an official investigation into the incident. The airline also released a statement.

A PIA spokesperson said the carrier “regrets the inconvenience caused due to negligence on part of the airline’s ground handling agency and expresses its sympathies with the family members of the deceased persons.”

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