An 80-year-old man was arrested at Tenerife South Airport in Spain on Tuesday after airport security stopped him from boarding a flight while pushing his wife's deceased body in a wheelchair, according to The Metro. The incident caused a security alert and an investigation by local authorities.
The man was stopped during security checks when staff noticed that the woman in the wheelchair was unresponsive and had an abnormally low body temperature. Officers discovered she had been dead for several hours, according to officials.
According to The Metro, Airport workers raised the alarm after noticing something was wrong, and emergency protocols were activated. Security agents, Guardia Civil officers, and forensic teams responded to the scene to investigate the situation further.
According to initial reports, the man told authorities that his wife had died at the airport and claimed that the airport facilities were to blame for her death. As a result, police arrested him and opened a formal investigation into possible criminal conduct.
The unusual case caught public attention and raised questions about airport screening procedures. In a separate incident in late 2025, a British family was reported to have attempted to board a flight with a deceased relative in a wheelchair, although airline officials later disputed some details of that event.
An airport employee told Spanish newspaper Diario de Avisos: "A security guard approached the woman, and the man gave her his wheelchair. When she took the woman's hand, she noticed she had an abnormally low temperature and wasn't breathing."
"The worker immediately notified her supervisor. Within minutes, the emergency protocol was activated, and numerous security agents, Civil Guard officers, and forensic personnel arrived at the scene".
Police are investigating potential criminal liability.
This follows a separate case where a British woman, 89, died on an easyJet flight. A fellow passenger confirmed she was alive before takeoff but became unresponsive mid-flight, contradicting earlier claims that she boarded the plane already dead.
