Fully Vaccinated Pegasus Airlines passenger found dead on board flight from Turkey to Germany. Cause of death thought to be COVID-19 related.
A fully vaccinated air passenger infected with coronavirus traveling from Turkey to Germany was found dead in his seat last week.
The Pegasus Airlines crew found the 51-year-old man lifeless after Flight 1043 from Istanbul, Turkey, to Hamburg, Germany, on October 25.
The man, who was born in Russia and lived in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, was travelling on an Airbus 320 when he passed away during the flight, which took off from Istanbul at around 10am local time.
He was found lifeless in his seat by a member of staff after all other passengers had disembarked the aircraft in Hamburg at around 1pm German time, according to local media reports.
The official cause of the man’s death is not clear although local reports have suggested he had suffered from a number of serious prior illnesses, which were not specified.
Pegasus Airlines is a Turkish low-cost carrier and the country’s second-largest airline. Starting out as a charter carrier… https://t.co/3aqrHMpDPA
— Simple Flying (@simple_flying) November 1, 2021
Health and corona regulations adhered
The Airbus A320 operated by Turkish low-cost airline Pegasus Airlines had taken off from Istanbul and landed at its destination at around 1 pm on Monday, October 25.
Forensic pathologists performed a postmortem on the body and concluded that the man had probably died mid-flight the dailymail reports.
They noted he tested positive for Covid but it is unclear if he had presented any symptoms during his final days. It is not known if Covid was the cause of death.
The man was allowed to take the flight because he had proved he was fully vaccinated against coronavirus. German Covid-19 rules require passengers to reveal their Covid status before they fly.
Potential air passengers need to be vaccinated, recovered or tested. Passengers who have been fully vaccinated do not also need to provide a negative Covid test result when travelling to Germany from ‘high-risk’ Turkey.
A spokesman for the Hamburg health authority told Focus Online: ‘In general, the provisions of the entry regulations apply, according to which either a test or proof of vaccination must be presented when entering from Turkey.’
The airline said: ‘We extend our condolences to the family and neighbours of the passenger.’
Fully vaccinated air passenger infected with Covid dies mid-flight https://t.co/NDuFnDa9Tg via @MailOnline
Fully vaccinated Pegasus Airlines passenger infected with COVID is found dead in his seat after landing in Germany on flight from Turkey— B Gallagher (@Gally66kg) November 2, 2021
Passenger suffered from unspecified prior serious illnesses
The airline stressed all health and corona regulations were adhered to.
Local media did not report whether other passengers noticed the man was dead during the 3 hours and 25 minutes flight.
A police spokesperson said the passenger had his head ajar and his eyes closed so he may have been mistaken as being asleep, Spiegel reported.
The police spokesperson added that the man was travelling alone and had a window seat on the airplane.
According to Hamburger Abendblatt, the man had suffered from several serious prior illnesses, which were not specified.
The man had flown to Istanbul a week earlier, Focus Online reported. It is unclear whether his visit was for business or leisure purposes.
Confidence to tourists
The passengers sitting near him and the cabin crew were ordered to report to the health department.
Tourism in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul has gradually restarted as Covid-19 vaccination rates have been on the rise.
The Health Ministry revealed that 72.4 per cent of citizens aged 18 and above have received both vaccination doses against Covid in Istanbul, Tempo reported.
Meanwhile, the city has brought in 5.8million tourists during the first nine months of 2021, with local news reports confirming that the number of tourists has steadily increased since March when compared to the same period last year.
‘The high vaccination rate in Istanbul gives confidence to tourists,’ Nalan Yesilyurt, board member of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, told Xinhua.
On Monday, Turkey recorded 28,678 new cases of Covid, bringing the country’s total number of cases from October 19 until November 1 up to 378,149.
Turkey also recorded 217 new deaths on Monday, according to official figures.
