Airliner apologises after man's ashes go missing on flight
US Airways has issued an apology after a woman said her dead husband’s ashes went missing from her luggage as she flew across the US to bury them in his hometown.
US Airways has issued an apology after a woman said her dead husband’s ashes went missing from her luggage Photo: James Boardman/Rex Features
Angeline O’Grady, from Philadelphia, was flying from New England to Hull on an US Airways flight when the ashes of her late husband Brian disappeared.
Brian died from cancer on October 6 at the age of 71.
Mrs O’Grady had tried to board the flight on November 1 at Philadelphia Airport with the ashes in her hand luggage but airport officials told her she could not take them through security.
She was instead sent to the US Airways counter and told to put the ashes in her checked luggage. A fragile sticker was placed on the case.
When she arrived at her sister-in-law’s house in Hull, she opened the suitcase to find that the box containing her husband’s ashes missing.
“He was a great guy – he doesn’t deserve this,” said Mrs O’Grady, who pleaded with the airline for help but no one was willing to listen.
“We’re no further along than the day I discovered they were missing on the second of November,” she told US media.
A spokesman for the Tempe, Arizona-based airline said US Airways apologises and is working to find out what might have happened with the remains.
