A dead elderly woman was wheeled onto an easyJet flight 19 December 2025 according to eyewitnesses who have claimed accompanying family members told staff their grandmother was merely tired and asleep. The flight from Spain to the UK was subsequently halted as it taxied to the runway and delayed by 12 hours after crew realised the woman had in fact passed away.
Passengers on the 11:15 am departure from Malaga to London’s Gatwick Airport have reported on social media channels that they were concerned about the woman’s wellbeing during the boarding process, as she was “slumped unconscious” in a wheelchair and had to be lifted into her seat by family members who reportedly informed staff they were doctors and that she was “just tired.”
Fellow passenger Petra Boddington challenged easyJet’s boarding processes in a Facebook post that has gained tens of thousands of views, asking: “EasyJet, when did you start letting dead people onto planes?” Boddington went on to say, “ground staff actually allowed someone who looked completely dead onto the plane and then, funnily enough, just as we were about to take off, they died.” She also contrasted easyJet’s apparent lack of vigilance in this case with the way passengers would be treated if they appeared to be drunk, saying that boarding would be denied “if you were drunk, but apparently it’s okay if you’re dead and you look dead.”
Boddington insisted the woman was clearly “not absolutely fine” as the family claimed and is backed by other passengers who agree. In another Facebook post, passenger Tracy-Ann Kitching, called the airline “unbelievable!” and asked: “Why did you let a dead person on our flight?” She blamed special assistance staff for not noticing the problem and expressed sympathy for the dead woman’s family.
But easyJet has refuted the claims, saying the woman had been in possession of a health certificate and was alive before boarding. “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the customer who sadly passed away, and we are offering support and assistance at this difficult time,” a spokesperson for the airline said, explaining: “She was permitted to fly because she had a medical ‘fit to fly’ certificate and was being supported by medical personnel during her journey. It was only after boarding the customer then required medical assistance and she sadly passed away. The wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority and we would ask customers for their understanding in these circumstances.”
Malaga’s Civil Guard has confirmed its officers attended the incident and that a woman “was pronounced dead on the aircraft which had been due to leave Malaga for London just after 11am yesterday morning.”
As a result of the upsetting turn of events, the departure was delayed by 12 hours, eventually flying out of Malaga at 10: 47 pm local time and arriving at Gatwick at midnight.
