‘I’m a flight attendant – this is what we do when a plane passenger dies’

We may not always realise it, but the responsibility carry can be truly overwhelming. When faced with a passenger emergency mid-flight, flight attendants must think quickly and rely on a wide range of skills. A seasoned cabin manager with a major European airline and former Emirates has explained the procedures followed when a passenger dies in the air and the steps involved in handling such a traumatic event.

Jay Robert told the : “We go from service to lifesaving to mortician, dealing with dead bodies and then doing crowd control. “We’re having to calculate: ‘Okay, we still need to serve 300 people breakfast or dinner and we have to deal with this.” Once a passenger is confirmed dead, the guidelines set by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) come into play.

Robert said the Crew will “try to give some decency to the dead body” by moving it to an empty aisle and covering with curtains or blankets and dimming the lighting.

The body should be moved to an empty seat, but in smaller planes with less space, or if there are no available spaces, it can be really challenging to distance other passengers from the body.

The IATA says that first, the cabin crew must immediately inform the captain, who is responsible for notifying the destination airport to ensure the proper authorities are in place when the flight lands.

Then, the crew is advised to move the body as far as possible from the other passengers, and if the plane is full, the body will have to remain in its original seat or in another area that doesn’t block the aisles or emergency exits.

If available, a body bag should be used to cover the deceased, with the bag zipped up to the neck and if there isn’t one, the crew should use a blanket and cover it up to the neck and close the person’s eyes.

The body must be restrained with a seatbelt or other available equipment to prevent any movement.

Robert added: “The likelihood of facing a death in the sky increases for crew members working on wide-body aircraft on long-haul routes.

“There are more passengers, fewer opportunities to divert, and passengers are in a pressurised environment, sitting for extended periods, which often can lead to serious health problems.

“We are not medical professionals, and while we are trained for these occurrences, it doesn’t make it easier when someone dies on board.”

A 2013 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that for every 604 flights, one in-flight medical emergency occurred. Of 10,914 affected passengers, 0.3% died, totaling 36 deaths over three years, with 30 occurring during the flight.