Death seems to come at the most inconvenient times, doesn’t it? Elvis died on the john, Segway owner Jimi Heselden drove his own Segway off a cliff, and Steve Irwin met his maker at the end of a stingray barb (although eternal optimists would argue the man “died doing what he loved”). We can’t all pass peacefully in our sleep. So, it’s no surprise that some are bound to keel over mid-flight among the millions of air travelers taking to the skies daily. But what happens to their bodies — and their unfortunate seatmates — when they do?
Personally, this is not something that I spend a lot of time thinking about when I’m boarding a plane, and I just figured that the flight crew would know what to do, so it was interesting learning about exactly what what happens when someone dies on a flight.
Be prepared
Every airline packs an essential first aid kit, and all flight crew members are trained in CPR and other emergency life-saving procedures. If there’s a medical emergency, pilots will likely divert to the nearest airport to ensure a passenger has access to whatever treatment they need. However, if a passenger flatlines mid-flight — in the words of The Princess Bride, we’re talking “all dead,” not just “mostly dead” — most flights will continue to their original destination.
Contrary to urban legend, modern airplanes are not equipped with a so-called “corpse cupboard” on the off chance they need to hide a body. In fact, there’s little spare room at all on most modern aircraft. Between all the seats, equipment, booze, and whatever gourmet six-course meal they’re serving in first class or business class these days, nearly every cubic inch is accounted for.
If you think the bathroom sounds like the ideal spot to stash a body, you’re not alone. However, the BBC documentary A Very British Airline revealed that “British Airways cabin crew are told to put dead bodies in spare seats rather than toilets.” In the name of common decency, we imagine every airline worldwide has a similar policy. In most cases, the body will be covered to maintain some modicum of dignity and then, if possible, moved to an empty row.
You may not be able to switch seats
Unfortunately, these days, flights are often completely full. More often than not, that means wherever the passenger died is where they’ll remain for the duration of the flight. While that’s unlikely to bother the deceased much, it’s more than enough to rattle even the heartiest seatmate. If you dare to disappear down a rabbit hole that’s sure to swear you off flying ever again, the internet is replete with stories of passengers who had to share air with a deceased passenger.
Quora user Ana Ansari relayed her personal experience, which was surprisingly matter-of-fact:
“A woman sitting two rows behind me on an 11-hour flight from Frankfurt to Singapore had stopped breathing on the last leg of the trip. The woman’s immediate neighbors were allocated new seats as they lay her across the row of seats. Once it was determined that there was nothing else they could do, they covered her body with a sheet (but not her face) and the flight carried on as per normal.”
Overall, however, it’s a rare occurrence. Even seasoned flight attendants will tell you that, in their decades of air travel, a passenger death might happen once, maybe twice if they’re unlucky. But when it does, it’s almost always memorable. In her expose of air travel nonsense, flight attendant Heather Poole shares her experience with a passenger who tried to smuggle their dead mother aboard a flight inside a garment bag. If you’re curious why the hell anyone would do something so despicable, Poole said, “It’s expensive — delivering a body on a flight can cost up to $5,000.”
Don’t worry, though. If you’re freaked out at the possibility of flying with a dead body on board your next flight, you almost certainly already have. Many fallen soldiers return home aboard commercial airlines, but domestic airlines also transport a surprising number of civilian bodies around the country daily. The fact is, most people don’t die where they want to be buried, and they have to find their way back home somehow.
Take heart, though, as one anonymous pilot told Yahoo: “No one technically ‘dies’ on [a] plane if the crew can at all help it.” The reason? Because of the “crazy paperwork and all kinds of red tape and the aircraft has to be grounded, a.k.a. a crime scene.” In a nod to Disney’s notorious (though untrue) “No Deaths in the Magic Kingdom. Ever.” policy, the pilot said the crew instead move the deceased to the tarmac and declares them dead there. If true, it’s a gross but business-savvy solution to an inconvenient problem.
The official guidelines
Beleive it or not, there are official guidelines as to what to do regarding a death mid-flight. And while as we have seen, not all crews or airlines will strictly follow these guidelines, they are in place. According to the International Air Transport Association, the cabin crew (and any medical personnel who happen to be on board) should attempt CPR until:
- The person starts breathing again.
- It becomes unsafe to continue CPR (there is moderate or severe turbulence or the pilot is about to make a difficult landing).
- All rescuers are too tired to continue.
- The plane is on the ground and emergency personnel on the ground can take over.
- The person is presumed dead after no response to at least 30 minutes of CPR, as well as shocks from the onboard automated external defibrillator.
Once a person has been declared dead on the flight, the IATA guidelines say:
- The captain should be immediately notified so they can alert the destination airport to make sure the proper people meet the flight.
- Close the eyes, and cover the body up to the neck with a blanket if no body bag is available.
- Move the person to a seat with few other passengers nearby. If that is impossible, put the person in a seat that doesn’t obstruct an aisle or exit.
- Get contact information for the person’s traveling companions.
- Let the other passengers get off the plane first and ensure the family or traveling companions stay with the body. Wait for the proper authorities to come on board to take care of the body and make sure that ground personnel is available to assist family members/traveling companions.
