What do you do with a dead body on a plane?

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coolfizz

It may depend on the duration of the flight...

If the flight is over 15 hours, then the plane shall make a Medical landing...
Not emergency landing,
But only if 3-5hrs was left, then the flight will most probably continue to to its destination....
By that time, the body may be shifted, or else, the people shall me make to sit 2-3 rows away from it....

Dan

You were the one on that plane. You tell us what they did with the body. I am curious.

Eclipsepearl

I'm a former Flight Attendant and we asked this question in training.

There is no short answer. Basically, it depends on how the person passed away, where and at what point in the flight. If it was a dramatic event in front of a lot of people, this might be handled differently then if someone quietly went to meet their Maker, as what happened the only time it did on one of my flights. The passengers got off the plane totally not aware that we landed with one less.

If the flight is not full, there are more options. Moving the body is not ideal. It is true that the crew can't declare someone dead in flight. If there is doctor on board, they can but we were warned that they don't like to do this because of the mountain of paperwork it involves. They prefer to land and have them declared dead on the ground.

In our case, there was just one person beside her, her husband. It was all very sad and kept very quiet.

Moving the other passengers away is one option. It was suggested to wrap the person in a blanket and put an oxygen mask to their face, just for discretion. Another option would be to move the passenger to a crew rest area, if there is one. Sometimes there is an isloated seat in Frist Class.

In a worst-case senario, a full flight, we would get out the crew manifest and seat non-revenue, company employees around the body. We would put the body by the window with a blanket and get one of our coworkers to volunteer. Non-rev passengers know that when they fly standby, they might have to sit in an undesirable seat sometimes to accomdate a passenger with a "real" ticket. Free flights are great but there are some drawbacks!

We were told under no circumstances to stuff the body in a lavatory.

Under no circumstances were we to preform any religious ceremonies. Remember, we can't even declare them dead, let alone play priest on board.

Whether to land the airplane or not is up to the captain. It would depend on a lot of factors, including how much flight time is left and where the plane is flying over. Passengers always ask about landing in medical emergencies but actually, it's rarely done and only if it means a direct benefit to the sick passenger. If the situation is stable, then it's often not the best plan. Death, unfortunately, is a stable situation.

Dropping the body off at a remote Canadian military base might not be the wisest thing to do. It would incur a huge cost to not only the airline but the family to transport the body home. Going to Hawaii from California, for example, they either have to turn around or keep going. There is no where to land over that stretch of water. Usually, the best plan is to just keep going.

I will add the mid-air deaths are rare. With the exception of the above case (which the woman was suffering a terminal disease and wanted to see her favorite city one last time), the few deaths that we had with our airlines were during boarding or deplaning. One woman passed away on the jetway as she exited in Paris off a transatlantic. One gentleman had a heart attack during boarding and was taken off on a wheelchair before the plane left the gate.

Mid-air deaths are rare and when they do happen, they are like the one I had, very quiet. Best to keep the situation as low-key as possible.

Michelle

If they are able to, they fly to a nearby airport to let the body and any family members off. Over the ocean and such they may just continue on. They usually try to seclude the body and cover it if they are able to.

Another weird fact, they're not declared dead til they land, they have to be declared on the ground, something about air space and death, I don't know the details, but I know everyone I've talked to has told me the same.

Pilot

If someone had died onboard a flight, they would divert the plane and land immediately. But this is a good question as to what they would do with it until they landed. To be honest I'm not sure, but the flight attendants may take it to the back of the plane to where they get the food, beverages, etc and keep it there.

Chicken Boy

That is a good question. What I think would happen is that they would keep the body in the back and keep it untill the flight was over.

One question where were u going when he past away?
also about how old was he?
Because 1 of my relative died on a plane.

Andy

Mostly they will go to the final destination, because then an investigation goes on, and it definitely will be more expensive to divert the plane and cancel it and rebook all the passengers, etc.

Dan

Generally speaking, the flight would continue on to its destination. Diverting aircraft is very expensive and, in this case, there is no reason to do so.

Regards,
Dan

Cerberus

They would stuff it in the overhead with the luggage...LOL. I believe they make an emergency landing (at the nearest airport)...until then...the body would have to stay seated.

NightFlyer777

They probably put a sign saying he's no longer living and need to bury him and then they throw him off the plane.

eryazoo

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooombs awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Captain Art Griego

In September, 1995 I was flying a 777 from Mumbai to Bangkok when one of the passengers suddenly passed away, suffering a severe myocardial infarction. After trying for a couple of seconds to revive the passenger, I heard GOD'S voice telling me, "Captain Art, I'm calling this man home to ME. Let him go, let him go."

I then ordered the Cardio Kit machine put away and instructed the flight attendants to sit the body back into the seat and slip a pillow-case over the body's face. I then administered last rights to the passenger, praying over the body, preparing it's soul for entry into the great anteroom where GOD'S angels sort the proverbial wheat from the chaffe. The passenger's wife was absolutely terrified and begged me several times to stop praying as she and her husband were evidently Hindu. BUT, the Lord called her husband home to roost in HIS Eternal Kindgom. I heard HIS voice and I was convinced.

GOD bless you-

Captain Art Griego

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