In 8th APR 2003, two stewardess from Garuda Indonesia checked into the Grand Hyatt Singapore, together with their colleagues. After collecting their room keys they head straight for the lift. The ladies, aged 30 and 31, were not on their guard  that an indian man had followed them into the lift.

When they reached the 16th floor which their rooms were located, they should have been more cautious that this indian man had followed them out of the lift, but they were not.  After opening their room door, the ladies used a bag to prevent their room doors from closing, while retrieving the other luggage. It was at this crucial moment that 28 yr old Suresh Nair from Malaysia forced them into their room and locked the door. He had with him a fake pistol and was able to prevent them from screaming or running away. In total, he raped the 31yr old TWICE and molested her colleague THRICE. He also got them to pose naked and took lewd pictures of them, threatening that if they report him to the police, he will post their pictures on the Internet. One month after the ordeal, the 31 yr old woman discovered she was pregnant and had to go for an abortion. …. Justice was served to Suresh Nair for his crime. He will be in jail for a long time and cane the maximum of 24 strokes. But what about the horrifying events that took place on that day? Will the two stewardesses be able to carry on their daily life as if nothing had happen? Will taking the lift with an strange man ever be the same again? The emotional trauma and scars of a rape victim can be with them for a lifetime. The rape victim was unable to go back to flying. She sometimes becomes hysterical just thinking about the incident. Her husband said she was no longer the cheerful person she used to be. And she avoided sex with him like he was the rapist. What are the precautions you can take? Did you know that even if you think you are in danger, alone, with no weapon and no one nearby for help, you could still use some simple but effective tricks to deter the rapist?

Want to hear the shocking truth about how some rapist choose their victims? In my next post " Stewardess raped in hotel room (part 2), I shall share with you some tips and tricks as well as reveal to you how a rapist target their victims.

It is said that nobody dies in flight, and legally that is true in most cases. The reason is that only a medical doctor can pronounce someone dead. So unless a doctor is on board, a person will only be pronounce dead on ground.

Recently a british airways passenger travelling first class woke up from a nap on a long haul flight to find that cabin crew had placed a corpse in his row. The woman in her seventies, who died after the plane left Delhi for Heathrow, was carried by cabin staff from economy to first class, where there was more space. The passenger became very concerned about the state of the body. “When you have a decaying body on a plane at room temperature for more than five hours there are significant health and safety risks,” he said.

After the plane landed, those in first class remained on board for an hour before police and a coroner gave the all-clear. On average, there were about 10 deaths each year out of every 36m passengers.

Other carriers use different procedures. Singapore Airlines has introduced “corpse cupboards” on its Airbus 340-500 aircraft. Cabin crews use the locker if there is no empty row of seats to place a corpse. These can be found at EEYCL cabin near door four right.

*** Did you know***

• When you have a full load on board, what do you do with a dead body? A certain airline left the corpse in a designated toilet and lock it. Hours later when the plane landed, rigor mortis has set in and the body became too stiff to be move. They end up breaking down the toilet door and the plane had to be grounded 48 hours for repairs.
• Dead passengers in economy or business class usually get a free UPGRADE to first class, where usually the load is not full. 
• If the corpse is of a big built and located in the aft ( back end ) of aircraft, crew may have difficulty moving it down the narrow aisle way, so the use of a transportation vehicle is helpful, this will be the meal carts you are being serve your meals with.
• Most of the times, Pilots report " time of death"  as " JUST AS WE LANDED".  Officially, when a passenger is taken ill or died on board, pilots are suppose to land at the nearest available airport. Captains hate to do that as it mess up their schedules, cost the airline thousands in fuel and delays. So " just as we landed" is the best option. After all, they are dead aren’t they?
• For planes with crew bunks, in the event of deaths on a full load, which bed do you think they shove the corpse to? The answer is quiet common sense …. the most assessible one. Look out for it…

If you have been flying for a while, these are probably some of the things you will do….

• You can eat a 4 course meal standing at the kitchen counter even when home
• At the grocery store, you start looking for a crew line
• All your pens have different hotel names on it.
• You never unpack your luggage completely
• You can tell from a distance if a piece of luggage will fit in the overhead bin
• You care about local news of  a city far away from home
• You know at least 10 uses for air sickness bags
• You can recognize pilots by the backs of their heads, not by their faces
• You understand and use the 24 hour clock
• You own 2 sets of uniform, fat and thin
• You stand at the front door and say " bye bye, thanks and have a nice day " when someone leaves your home
• Your thighs are covered in bruises from armrests and elbows
• You wake up and have to look at the hotel stationery to figure out where you are
• When the doorbell rings, you look at the ceiling
• You refer to cities by their airport codes
• You understands every item on this list

Have fun figuring them out…

cheers