Airline mix-up delivers wrong bodies to two funerals

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An airline which mistakenly delivered two body-bearing caskets to the wrong funeral homes has issue an apology.

The mix-up happened when the bodies were sent via the same Delta flight out of New York LaGuardia airport, reports WLTX TV of Colombia.

WLTX reports that Delta shipping clerks "apparently put the wrong shipping labels on the caskets,"
meaning that a casket bound for Virginia ended up arriving in South Carolina and viceversa.

USA Today reported that the mix-up forced one funeral to be delayed by a day while the other went on as scheduled, despite the body arriving only about two hours before the funeral.

Delta spokesman Russell Carson told WABC of New York: "Delta deeply regrets this unfortunate situation. We are investigating the matter and will work closely with the family during this difficult time."

The family and friends of Stanley Williams, whose body was in the casket mistakenly sent to South Carolina instead of Virginia, told WABC that the mistake made it harder for them to grieve.

"It's hard enough that you have to bury one of your loved ones and then to find out that the airline screwed up and prolonged the process," Williams' friend Josette Cerutti said.

The family of Purdy Walker, the other body involved in the mix-up, seemed less outraged by the mistake.

Walker's niece, Latasha Crumpton said: "You hear about this stuff happening on TV, but not to our family.

"I'm sure he's laughing about it. I know he is. He went with the flow."

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