Originally Posted by
Troopers
I suspect the mother had her diaper bag under the seat. Both diaper bag and dog wouldn't fit under seat.
There were two passengers travelling with two seats. Provided that both items physically fit underneath the seat, there should've been enough place for both.
Originally Posted by
Greenpen
What would a dog (or anything else) die in an overhead locker? They are part of the cabin so provided no (human) passengers died on the same flight there may be other reasons?
If I start the engine in a closed garage that's connected to the rest of the house, I will eventually die even though the garage is not airtight while people in the rest of the house will be fine. A dog in an overhead locker will eventually use up all the oxygen available and there's not enough air circulation to provide fresh air. Of course, there may be other reason why the dog died (some have been mentioned already) but that doesn't change the fact that animals don't belong up there.
If the case was too big to fit underneath the seat, then the F/A should've deplaned the family citing the need to insure everyone's safety. The family may have been angry about it but the dog would've been alive. If the case fitted underneath the seat, then I frankly don't see any reason why the F/A did what the F/A did.