Airline error made me think one of my family had died, says shocked father

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A father-of-two described today how a leading airline led him to believe wrongly that one of his family had died as he sat waiting for news from them thousands of miles away.

Chris Miller said he had been trying to find out what was happening with his partner, son and daughter after their Emirates flight from Australia had been diverted to India when an airline employee phoned to give him the number of the "undertaker taking care of the body".

Mr Miller, 41, said they realised their mistake within a minute and called back to apologise but the shock had already set in.

"For 10 seconds my whole world collapsed," he said.

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Reunited: Chris with partner Nicole and their children Victoria, three, and Harry, one. A call from the Emirates airline left him terrified that one of them had died

"I was in shock for days. I had to try anything to get out to India."

Mr Miller, an information analysis manager, from Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, said the mistake was just the worst part of catalogue of problems his family encountered on the flight and its aftermath, which he blames on Emirates.

Now he says he want adequate compensation.

Mr Miller says the saga began as his partner Nicole Toole, 34, and their children Harry, one, and Victoria, three, were returning from a visit to see a dying relative in Australia on March 6.

A British backpacker was taken seriously ill on their flight to Dubai, forcing it to divert to Mumbai.

Coincidentally, little Harry also fell ill and Ms Toole rang home from India to tell her partner.

Mr Miller said the airline made his family - who had no inoculations or other preparations - take a terrifying taxi ride across Mumbai to a shabby hospital which specialised in infectious diseases.

He said that it was only after protest from Ms Toole that the airline returned her and their children to a top hotel - where a doctor confirmed chicken pox.

Mr Miller said that by this time daughter Victoria had also developed an infection.

He said the airline phoned about the undertaker as he waited at home two hours after a tearful Ms Toole had called to talk about the worsening situation.

Emirates paid for Mr Miller to fly out to his family but the infections meant they had to wait a further 10 days before coming home.

He said the last straw was to finally arrive at Newcastle Airport to find his luggage still in Dubai.

The couple said they are both regular international travellers and have never had to complain about an airline before.

Mr Miller said he has received an apology about the "undertaker" incident but is now at least £900 out of pocket - despite what he described as the excellent work of his insurance company and the British embassy.

He said: "I don't want any family to go through what we've gone through. It's not really about the money. It's about the airline taking responsibility for what they have done."

No one was available from Emirates today but yesterday a spokesman told The Journal, in Newcastle: "Emirates has sincerely apologised to Mr Miller for his upsetting experience.

"We provided him with a complimentary return ticket to Mumbai so he could be reunited with his family."

The spokesman pointed out that staff had also had to deal with the "exceptional circumstances" of backpacker Michael Edgeley, 22, falling ill on the flight from Melbourne and later dying in tragic circumstances.

"It was a distressing period for both our staff and passengers," the spokesman said.

"If our standards of service fell below our usual standards during this difficult time we can only once again apologise."

 

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