A coffin was accidentally left on a plane at Dublin Airport and flown back to Greece

• One man's remains were accidentally left on a plane at Dublin Airport and flown back to Greece.
• His family was reportedly waiting with a hearse at the airport.

An Irishman who passed away in Greece was transported by plane to Dublin Airport but an unloading mistake resulted in his coffin being flown all the way back to Greece, Irish newspaper the Sunday Independent reported.

On May 22, the man's remains were transported in a coffin on an Aegean Airline plane from Athens International Airport to Dublin Airport where his family had been waiting for him with a hearse, per the Sunday Independent. Details surrounding his death have not been revealed.

However, due to a "misload," the coffin wasn't spotted by grounds service and thus never unloaded from the plane, the newspaper wrote. He was then flown back to Greece.

Swissport, the company responsible for ground handling at Dublin Airport, reportedly resolved the situation by arranging for the man's body to be returned on another flight the next day, the newspaper wrote.

Swissport did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about the incident. Insider also contacted Aegean Airlines via Twitter but did not immediately hear back.

In a statement to the Sunday Independent, Swissport said it had apologized to the family of the deceased man and is conducting an internal investigation into how the blunder occurred.

Aegean Airlines is the biggest airline group in Greece and was ranked one of the best regional airlines in Europe by Skytrax in 2022.