An Indian-origin woman died on a Qantas flight in Australia just before the flight took off. On June 20, 24-year-old Manpreet Kaur was preparing to take off from Melbourne to Delhi for the first time in four years. However, reports said that shortly after boarding the flight at Tullamarine Airport, Kaur encountered health problems and died of tuberculosis.
After Kaur boarded the flight, retired army officer Ravinder Singh, who was visiting family in Australia, saw her for the first time as he settled into his seat. He recounted his experience with Kaur to NewsAU.
“I was sitting next to her on the Qantas flight from Melbourne to Delhi and was actually the last person to speak to her. When we boarded the plane, she was already sitting in the aisle seat. I was by the window and asked her to stand up so I could take my seat. I noticed she started scrolling through photos on her phone and stopped on one of an elderly couple. I asked her if those were her parents. She smiled and nodded and stared at the photo,” Singh told NewsAU. (Related: Man killed in internet cafe goes unnoticed for 30 hours, investigation ongoing)
As the plane was preparing to take off, I noticed Kaur had her head resting on the seat in front of me and her mobile phone on it, and in that moment I realised something was wrong.
Singh said, “She had fastened her seat belt and had leaned forward to rest her head on the seat in front of her. As the plane was preparing to take off, I wanted to remind her to sit up straight as the plane was shaking and I thought she would wake up. But her head just moved towards me. I attracted the flight attendant’s attention and told her that the woman did not seem very well. They took her pulse and the flight attendants’ response thereafter was highly commendable. They tried their best to resuscitate her. She was then evacuated by medical staff.”
He added that the incident remains “traumatizing” and that his “heart breaks for her family who will have been looking forward to seeing her for the first time in a long time.”