Easyjet refusing compensation after 14 hour delay in arrival

rufford155

My wife & daughter were on an evening Easyjet flight from Madeira to Manchester that was diverted to Santiago in Spain due to a man being unwell who then died.
They spent about 2 hours on the aircraft while the man lay dead in the aisle waiting for medical people and then forensic police to check him over.
Finally he was taken (dragged!) off the plane and the passengers were told they would have to stay overnight due to the crew being too tired and traumatised - fair enough I guess.
They spent around an hour getting through passport control (only one staff member) and another hour waiting for a taxi (only 6 available for over 200 passengers). 
Airport authorities refused to call for coach transfers.
They finally got to an hotel sometime after 4am, but had to get up at 7.30 to get a taxi back to the airport to catch the rearranged flight to Manchester which finally arrived around 2.30pm - about 15 hours later than scheduled.
They have both made an official request for compensation but Easyjet has refused, claiming the circumstances were supposedly outside of their control.
They did provide a free hotel with breakfast plus a rearranged flight with a new aircraft and crew.
But the crux of the matter here is that Easyjet were well aware that the gentleman was unwell before initial boarding and even arranged for a medic to accompany him on the flight.
So they took a risky decision that didn't work out.
Therefore it can be construed that the situation WAS within their control and I would argue that compensation is indeed due.
Does anyone know the best way to take this further.

la531983

RIP to the family of the deceased.

DullGreyGuy

The deceased presumably had received medical advice that they are fit to fly, it's not for a gate stewardess to determine a qualified doctor is wrong. 

eskbanker

rufford155 said:

But the crux of the matter here is that Easyjet were well aware that the gentleman was unwell before initial boarding and even arranged for a medic to accompany him on the flight.
So they took a risky decision that didn't work out.
Therefore it can be construed that the situation WAS within their control and I would argue that compensation is indeed due.
Does anyone know the best way to take this further.

Best thing would be to drop the matter - just because there was an accompanying medic that doesn't imply that it could reasonably have been expected that the passenger would die en route, which would obviously be highly undesirable from the airline's operational point of view as well as the inconvenience to other passengers, so, unless you have details of the cause of death and believe that you can construct a compelling case from that, it would seem prudent to accept that such things happen....

Westin

I agree with Easyjet.

Bicycleman22

Dear me, what a sad post in more ways than one. 

Seasalt3

Just be thankful they were only delayed in getting home.  Just imagine how the deceased family are feeling.

bagand96

Your options are to go to ADR or Small Claims Court.

I'm not convinced that either will agree with you that a passenger dying on board is the fault of the airline.

Ganga

rufford155 said:

My wife & daughter were on an evening Easyjet flight from Madeira to Manchester that was diverted to Santiago in Spain due to a man being unwell who then died.
They spent about 2 hours on the aircraft while the man lay dead in the aisle waiting for medical people and then forensic police to check him over.
Finally he was taken (dragged!) off the plane and the passengers were told they would have to stay overnight due to the crew being too tired and traumatised - fair enough I guess.
They spent around an hour getting through passport control (only one staff member) and another hour waiting for a taxi (only 6 available for over 200 passengers). 
Airport authorities refused to call for coach transfers.
They finally got to an hotel sometime after 4am, but had to get up at 7.30 to get a taxi back to the airport to catch the rearranged flight to Manchester which finally arrived around 2.30pm - about 15 hours later than scheduled.
They have both made an official request for compensation but Easyjet has refused, claiming the circumstances were supposedly outside of their control.
They did provide a free hotel with breakfast plus a rearranged flight with a new aircraft and crew.
But the crux of the matter here is that Easyjet were well aware that the gentleman was unwell before initial boarding and even arranged for a medic to accompany him on the flight.
So they took a risky decision that didn't work out.
Therefore it can be construed that the situation WAS within their control and I would argue that compensation is indeed due.
Does anyone know the best way to take this further.

You could always sue the family of the person who died ,how desperate are you for blood money ,i hope your family never find themselves in the position of the late passenger.

GingerTim

bagand96 said:

Your options are to go to ADR or Small Claims Court.

I'm not convinced that either will agree with you that a passenger dying on board is the fault of the airline.

I would go further and say there is a less than zero chance either would agree.

rufford155

Thanks for all the replies - even the nasty ones !
I've got the consensus so I will let it be.