A fear of flying is relatively common. Usually, anxiety comes in the form of being in a metal tube thousands of feet in the air, despite air travel being statistically safer than driving a car. But in actuality, it is at least as likely to die of natural causes on an airplane as in a crash. If an in-flight death occurs at 37,000 feet, what happens?
While flight attendants and other crew members are trained to provide medical intervention for passengers, deaths aboard commercial flights do happen, although they are rare. Under the Code of Federal Regulations, certain protocols and requirements apply to pilots and cabin crew when someone dies on an airplane in flight. Federal regulations require pilots to report onboard deaths, including presumed deaths, to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on covered interstate flights and international flights arriving in the United States. If a communicable disease is suspected, public health authorities may direct additional precautions, like quarantining.
It’s natural to have questions about the legal ramifications of an in-flight medical event that you may not have had before we alerted you to the possibility (you’re welcome). We’ve got answers, including some to queries that may not have occurred to you (or that you didn’t want to know about).
That’s the Wrong ‘Mile-High Club’ To Join
With upwards of three million passengers taking to the skies over the U.S. every day, the laws of averages dictate that some will meet their demise in the aisle seat on an American Airlines flight. Just like on terra firma, a common cause of in-flight deaths involves heart issues, such as cardiac arrest. Accordingly, flight crew members are trained to respond to heart-related medical emergencies, such as administering chest compressions and using an automated external defibrillator (AED), which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires for all aircraft with a maximum payload capacity of more than 7,500 pounds and at least one flight attendant.
Under guidelines issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the cabin crew should continue to perform CPR on a nonresponsive passenger until they’re all too exhausted to continue, turbulence makes the procedure unsafe, the plane has landed, or they presume the victim is deceased (usually after 30 minutes with no response from CPR or AED shocks). Legally, the word “presume” carries significant weight.
While trained in lifesaving techniques, flight crew members are unlikely to be medical professionals. This means they lack the legal authority to confirm the victim’s death. Instead, they’ll attempt to confirm the person’s identity and provide information to the pilot, who will relay it to their destination.
Unless a doctor, nurse, or other qualified healthcare practitioner is among the passengers and willing to do so, the afflicted will remain “presumed” to be dead. Despite the fact that it’s possible to use the time and flight information to determine where the decedent was when they presumably passed, “six miles above Idaho” isn’t often going to be the location listed on their death certificate.
So, where did they die? The airport where the plane lands may count as the legal place of death, but not always. The rules depend on where the body is taken off the plane and where the person died. In Virginia, for example, someone who dies over the U.S. can have the arrival airport recorded as their place of death. But if they die over another country or international waters, Virginia requires the certificate to list where they actually died, as closely as officials can determine.
Having been alerted by the pilot, local authorities will be waiting for the allegedly deceased individual. After the other passengers have been disembarked, a qualified medical professional will examine the body and confirm the death.
At Least We Won’t Be Fighting Over Who Gets the Armrest
Frequent flyers these days have likely noticed that many flights are filled to capacity. At least modern aircraft are prepared for the possibility of an in-flight death and have a special compartment set aside for just such an occurrence, right? Right?
Remember when we mentioned earlier that there’d be answers you might not want to hear? Well, the following may qualify: if the person seated next to you on a full flight dies, there’s a decent chance they’ll be put back there for the rest of the trip. After putting the presumably dead body in either a body bag or wrapping it in a blanket, the flight crew will attempt to move it to an empty row or other location, but that may not be possible. FAA regulations prohibit leaving it where it might block an exit or an aisle, and putting the body in one of the bathrooms is also a no-no (if the remainder of the flight is long enough for rigor mortis to set in, it could make it impossible to open the door. Plus, it’s considered insensitive and disrespectful).
If there aren’t any open seats and storing the body in one of the galleys isn’t feasible, the shrouded victim will be returned to their original seat and buckled in. All possible considerations will be made for any family members present, but no better option may be available. While it may be upsetting and unnerving, there’s little health risk involved for other passengers. Unless there’s substantial flight time remaining, the pilot is unlikely to divert the flight to have the body removed.
The odds of never being on a flight where someone dies en route are in your favor, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t flown with the deceased. The cargo holds of commercial flights are frequently used for cadaver transportation, bringing them from where they died to where they’re going to be buried or cremated. If it were still in operation, it could give “Spirit Airlines” a whole different meaning.
