It could be the plot of a bad 80’s comedy film, but over the Easter weekend two women were arrested at Liverpool Airport in the UK after it became apparent that a “sleeping” family member whom they were attempting to take to Germany, was in actual fact dead.

Staff at Liverpool Airport became suspicious that Curt Willi Jarant, who was strapped into a wheelchair and wearing dark glasses, had already checked-out before he had checked-in.

Family members traveling with the “sleeping” man were attempting to board a flight to Berlin and insisted the 91 year German national was merely tired after the taxi ride to the airport.

Airport employee, Andrew Millea, who aided the family upon their arrival, said Mr Jarant was already dead when he helped him out of the taxi. “I did my best to help by carefully lifting the man from his seat,” he said. “To my horror his face fell sideways against mine, it was ice cold.”

Millea told reporters “I knew straight away that the man was dead, but they reassured me that he ‘always sleeps like that.'”

According to reports, when officials established the man was indeed dead, one of the adult family members asked if they would still be able to board the flight.

Early medical reports suggest Mr Jarant died approximately 24 hours before the flight. However, his wife Gitta Jarant, and his step-daughter, Anke Anusic, are thought to have decided to press ahead with boarding the afternoon flight to the Berlin in order to avoid paying up to £5000 in repatriation fees.

Leah Gandy who was working on the easyJet check-in desk when the incident happened said: “I’ve worked at the airport for three years, but this is the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen . . . Fortunately, they had done a good job of disguising the truth and the other passengers did not appear to notice that the man was dead.”

The audacious attempt to fly Mr Jarant’s dead body, which echoed the 1980’s comedy film ‘Weekend at Bernie’s‘ was always doomed to fail due to standard airport security checks. But the family insist he was alive and well on the morning of the flight and that he must have died at the airport.

Police arrested Jarant’s wife and step-daughter on suspicion of failing to give notification of death.

Women ‘take dead relative to the airport to catch a flight’
Women arrested at airport over dead relative
[Sept 2010 Update] No charges to be brought in dead passenger case