Airline loses corpse for four days
American Airline's sent the body of a Brooklyn mom to the wrong country for burial - and then callously demanded more money to fix the screwup, the widower and others involved in a lawsuit charged Monday.
Miguel Olaya said he made arrangements to send the remains of his wife, Teresa, to their native Ecuador after she died in late March of cancer at age 57.
Instead, American mistakenly shipped her 1,400 miles away - to Guatemala - he said.
"I went early [to Guayaquil, Ecuador] to make the funeral arrangements," he said. "When I got to the airport to pick up the body, they told me they didn't know where she was. I was desperate."
Olaya, 60, a day laborer who has lived in the U.S. for more than a decade, and his 16-year-old daughter drove to the airport every day for four days, but got the same story.
"My daughter was crying, saying, 'Where's mama, where's mama?'" Olaya said.
Finally, someone at American Airlines told them the body had been in Guatemala City, he said.
The remains arrived in Guayaquil on April 4.
"How could they lose a body?" asked lawyer Richard Villar. "I mean this is American Airlines, not a small-time operation. And it's not like it was a purse or something."
After the mistake was discovered, the airline even wanted to charge an extra $321 to ship Teresa's body to the right place, said the director of DeRiso Funeral Home in Bay Ridge, which made the arrangements.
"I said, 'This is adding insult to injury,'" said Cathy DeRiso.
She said she gave American the billing information she had prepared with the correct destination.
It turns out, DeRiso said, the goof was by someone at the airline who typed in the wrong airport code - GUA for Guatemala instead of GYE for Guayaquil.
Once the airline verified that it made the mistake, it waived the charge.
American declined to comment.
Olaya is also suing DeRiso, claiming that the body was badly embalmed and decomposed in the Guatemala City airport - canceling plans for a three-day wake. DeRiso denies that charge.
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Comments
United lost an unaccompanied minor or sort of. American Airlines lost a corpse. Both Airlines are known to loose passenger's luggage here and there. What's
next ? Oh yes, Pilot - that is not as bad as loosing Children and Corpses.AA has the gut to demand more money for their own screwed up. Are you reading this, Mr.Gerard Arpey ? We know Airlines
are having a tough time because of rising
fuel cost, but charging the client again for AA's own screwup is definitely a no no. What is AA planning to do ? Hold the corpse hostage until the client pay. Normally, we give 5 Stars for a job well done. But this time - its 5 Shame, Shame,
Shame, Shame and Shame !
I think this is inexcusable on American Airlines part. This family went through enough with the passing of their wife/mother. The fact that someone typed the wrong code (GUA instead of GYE) is ridiculous! I have been a travel agent for 22 years and can't imagine this happening. The family should not have been charged anything. They should have been refunded what they did pay, and they should have been given complimentary flights back to the U.S. after the funeral and time spent with family in Ecuador. I will keep this unfortunate story in mind for any possible future similar situations for my clients!
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