Taiwanese airline apologizes for requesting documents from dead flight attendant

A Taiwanese airline has apologized for requesting documents from a dead employee, in the latest development in a case that has sparked widespread anger.

The 34-year-old Eva Air flight attendant, called Sun, died earlier this month after reportedly becoming ill during a flight.

Many online speculated that she was overworked.

Taiwanese authorities and Eva Air are investigating her death, focusing on whether she was denied medical care or discouraged from taking sick leave.

Ms. Sun reportedly fell ill on September 24 during a flight from Milan to Eva Air’s base in Taoyuan City, Taiwan.

She was hospitalized upon arrival and eventually died on October 8.

Anonymous social media users who claimed to be her colleagues alleged that Ms. Sun was forced to continue working even when she felt unwell.

The China Taichung Medical University Hospital, where she died, has not officially released the cause of her death.

In a statement provided to the BBC, Eva Air said it had been in contact with her family when she was in hospital and was “deeply saddened” by Sun’s death.

“The health and safety of our employees and passengers are our highest priorities,” the airline said, adding that it was “conducting a thorough review” of the case.

Flight records for the past six months show Ms. Sun flew an average of 75 hours a month, which is within regulatory limits, Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reported. She joined the airline in 2016.

According to Ms. Sun’s family, days after her death, her phone received a text message from an Eva Air representative requesting documents proving that Ms. Sun had applied for leave in late September, which was the period she was in hospital.

The representative asked her to send a photo of the leave documents. The family responded to the message with a copy of Ms. Sun’s death certificate.

Senior company officials said at a news conference on Friday that the text was “an error by an internal employee” and that they had personally apologized to Ms Sun’s family for the mistake.

At Friday’s press conference, EVA Air President Sun Chia-Ming said “Ms. Sun’s departure is the pain in our hearts forever.”

“We will conduct the investigation (into her death) with the utmost responsibility,” he said.

Since 2013, Eva Air has been fined seven times, mostly for offenses related to staff overtime, CNA said.