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Monumental "mixup" - US Airways delivers casket instead of tropical fish

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Mar 11th 2009 at 11:30AM

Sooner or later every passenger on an airline will run into some kind of issue with their luggage. But a recent blunder by US Airways makes everything I've ever endured look like a walk in the park.

When Northeast Philadelphia pet store owner Mark Arabia received a shipment of tropical fish, he knew something was wrong - instead of 3 boxes containing his shipment, the driver had been given a casket, containing the remains of 65 year old Jon Kenoyer.

Due to what US Airways called "an unfortunate mixup", the casket was released to a driver, who loaded the box into his car, thinking he was transporting fish.

I'm sorry, but this is not a mixup - it is a blunder of epic proportions. I can understand an airline being sloppy with our personal baggage (and they are), but to actually release the remains of a deceased family member to the wrong driver is just a really sad case of incompetence.

US Airways picked up the coffin later that day, but the fish have still not been delivered, and have probably died by now due to a depleted oxygen supply.

All in all a disgraceful situation, and one that should make people think twice about sending a deceased relative with US Airways.

Check out these other stories from the airport checkpoint!

Filed under: Airlines, News

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

pk Mar 12th 2009 2:31PM

Surprised? I do not think so!! I am in the tropical fish business also and after 30 years, nothing the airlines do, or have done surprises me. They are without a doubt the most incompetent orginisation in business! Not to mention, with rare exception, do they accept any responsibility for their actions, maybe this time but who knows.....with these people it is ALWAYS somebody elses fault!! I do feel bad for the two parties involved with this mixup and hope it is made up to them. BTW, to the petshop owner....good luck with your claim!!!

S Mar 15th 2009 5:09PM

I would have 21 yrs. with an Airline this month, however I came to Mississippi to assist in Hurricane Katrina recovery. I was left alone in the belly of a DC9 aircraft to lift a 350lb casket with a Human Remains. I pulled both my neck & back and have not worked since. They started paying me 2 years later when they said there really was an incident. I'm wondering if the casket had just arrived at his destination 2 years later that the could then prove the injury??? poor guy! Now, 3 years have gone by and I have been dropped from the company, lost everything I own and still have no medical treatment. ~Stuck in Mississippi~ thanks Northwest!

Tommy Mar 12th 2009 2:47PM

How could someone or more than one person be so incompetent? Really, guys? C'mon...get your act together. Bag mixup i could understand...but a coffin and tropical fish? What the hell. Maybe U.S. Airways should try and hire people who have more than a 5th grade education.

mnswede Mar 12th 2009 3:12PM

It's just a matter of the caliber of people that the airlines are willing to hire. If you pay $9.00/hr with no benefits, you're going to have a revolving door and employees that have little motivation to pay attention to detail. In an industry where it's important to know who and what is moving through our airports and on our aircraft, it just makes sense to compensate people fairly, so that their "give a damn" ain't busted!

drktranquillity Mar 15th 2009 7:09PM

If only good pay and good benefits were incentive enough to make people actually care about their jobs. >.>

Bill G. Mar 12th 2009 3:25PM

Dead fish. Dead body. Geesh, whats the difference?

Ali Mar 12th 2009 7:34PM

Harsh Bill. REAL harsh.

If they had delivered fish to me instead of my sister's murdered body I'd be ticked.

Jacklyn Lopez Mar 12th 2009 3:31PM

What a bunch of knuckleheads!

vickie Mar 12th 2009 3:44PM

I worked for us airways for years in Baltimore. We had good people there but the company chose to pamper these idiots in Philly who cared nothing for the company. It is the mentallity of the dumba---- in Philadelphia not the airline.

Wm. J. Wilson Mar 12th 2009 3:45PM

It wasn't a mixup--the pet store received an order of organic crocodile food...now they claim they didn't order it. Somewhere in Philadelphia there is a very testy croc still waiting for his breakfast.

Tim Mar 12th 2009 4:08PM

Just another idiot not paying attention to his job. Who is to blame? The airline, or the employees? Maybe if they payed therir employees a decent wage instead of pennies, they would pay more attention to their job(s).

els Mar 12th 2009 5:50PM

The employees working the freight house in Phila. are not actual USAirways employees. USAirways contracted those jobs out years ago......this is what happens when you hire people for low wages and few benefits. You get what you pay for!!!!!

hollyberrie Mar 12th 2009 6:27PM

they haven't gotten the fish yet because they have been buried!!! Rip little fishies...

Mike Mar 12th 2009 6:46PM

I don't fly USAir as often as I used to since the time we waited on the ground in Philly for about 45 minutes while the ground crew was supposedly getting ice for the passengers' and flight crews' drinks. The flight attendant on that particular flight launched into a rant about how USAir moved their hub from Pittsburgh to Philly and they had been getting crappy ground service ever since. What eventually happened was the co-pilot got off of the airplane and went to another aircraft and got ice from them so we could depart. I wonder if the other plane ever managed to leave or if they were left waiting for ice for an hour or so too. Wonder why they're having financial trouble, check their service, that may give a clue.

Frank Mar 12th 2009 7:06PM

In my experiences, traveling for both business and pleasure, with various airlines, the problem may not be with the airline but with the Philadelphia staff. Without a doubt, Phila ground staff are the worst of any airport in just about any country. I have heard travelers say they would rather walk home from Baltimore or New York then pass through Philadelphia.

Carol A Mar 12th 2009 7:21PM

Can't anybody get anthing right???? First of all, I will not ride an airplane, and to send something by plane, hey, you might get it, you might not. How could people get something like fish & a casket wrong?? Someone needs a new job, like real fast. People, I guess if it's not their, they don't care. I wonder if they found that show dog, that the people let loose?? I know the owner was fit to be tied, because the dog is lost, starving, and the person who the dog was in possetion of, now has no dog, and the airlines, they just don't care. Boy if that was me, I would have their butts out there looking till they found it. I am so glad I don't fly.......

avalanche617 Mar 14th 2009 3:23PM

I work in the cargo department of the largest combination (passengers and cargo) airline in the world. When a driver hands me paperwork, I get in that forklift and look at what is called the air waybill number. It consists of 11 numbers. The first three are for identifying what airline it came in on and the next 8 are for the actual package. In the warehouse, we look at the last 4 numbers on the AWB and determine what frieght needs to go where. This is probably a simple mistake on the part of a ramp or warehouse employee that did not read the AWB correctly. It is also the responsibilty of the driver to cross check the AWB on the piece of freight they are picking up with the AWB they got from the cargo or luggage agents. All of this leads to one observation. I don't care what you're picking up. I only match up the numbers and give you the boxes. The difference may seem huge if you are looking at what the actual freight was supposed to be, but not when you realize the underpaid warehouse and ramp workers don't give a hoot what they're working with.