Flight seating nightmare made us shed 12 stone!

2:13pm Monday 6th October 2008

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By Melanie Adams »

IT was the final humiliation that sparked Alan and Jan Coupe into action.

A stewardess approached the couple – who weighed a total of 38 stone – and told them they would have to sit apart as they were too heavy for the plane to take off from Southampton Airport.

As his wife cringed, 20-stone Alan moved to the front of the aircraft to help even out the weight.

Determined never to face such such embarrassment again, Alan and Jan Coupe embarked on a strict diet that has seen the pair lose 12-and-a-half stone between them.

The couple, who run Wisteria House Bed and Breakfast in Mays Lane, Stubbington, were left redfaced as they headed for a holiday in Guernsey with their son, Chris, in April 2005.

Jan, 49, who then weighed 18 stone, said: “It was a decent-sized plane full of holidaymakers. It wasn’t a small plane, so it was devastating to be told that even a big plane like that couldn’t cope with all our weight being on the back.

“The stewardess asked one of us to get up and move to the front, so Alan volunteered to move which I was thankful about as I was so embarrassed I just couldn’t look up. We couldn’t believe that we were too heavy for the plane to take off.”

It was not the first time their weight had caused a problem.

A few years earlier they had been on a boat ride at the London Dungeon with their son and daughter Chloe.

Their size had made the craft tip over, causing water to slosh in.

A member of staff had to ask the couple to move to balance the weight in the boat.

So the pair, married for 28 years, joined a Slimming World club and swapped takeaways for pasta, vegetable curries and steak salads.

The results were instant with Alan losing 9lb and Jan losing 8lb within the first week. Three years later and Alan has lost a total of 5st 13lb and Jan 6st 5lb.

Jan, who has dropped six dress sizes to a 14, added: “I don’t feel embarrassed about getting on a plane anymore, we all feel so great we could fly around the world now without a hitch.”