The Unexpected Protocol When A Passenger Dies During A Flight

Every airline follows similar standard operating procedures (SOPs) for safety, security, and in-flight medical issues. These include measures like arming the doors before pushback, carrying out security checks throughout the aircraft, utilizing a first-aid kit for any medical emergencies onboard, and even describing what to do if an airplane door falls off mid-flight. Each airline may have its own protocols for actually executing these practices in order to comply with their own local aviation authorities. For example, all airlines in the United States must comply with the Federal Aviation Administration's regulations.

If a person dies on an aircraft mid-flight, the SOPs may vary from airline to airline, but cabin crew are trained to deal with these rare events (which is why there are unusual rules and requirements for being a flight attendant). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) includes a step-by-step guide for handling deaths onboard, but contains different steps depending on the resources available on the flight. 

For instance, if the airline carries a body bag, crew are trained to transport the deceased person to the galley or a more spacious area via an onboard wheelchair, and lay the corpse on the floor. Crew should zip the body bag up to the neck, as closing the body bag fully will indicate the person is officially pronounced dead. This would make documenting the death tricky as a place needs to be recorded, and an exact location cannot be accurately noted in the air. If a body bag is not available, the crew may be trained to use any resources that are available, like a plastic covering secured with duct tape.

After communicating the death to the captain, and if no body bag is available, IATA states that the corpse should be relocated to a seat with fewer passengers nearby if available or in their own seat if the flight is full. The crew should then restrain the body with a seat belt to avoid falling during turbulence, close the eyes, and cover the person up to the neck with a blanket. After landing, fellow passengers should disembark first while the family of the deceased stays behind until ground medical staff arrive.

Although in-flight deaths are rare, in February 2025, a Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne to Venice had a passenger die mid-flight after collapsing. Following unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate her, the crew tried to wheel the corpse to business class but failed to fit the body through the aisles. They ultimately resorted to placing the woman's body in an empty seat next to an Australian couple. While the travelers commended the crew for their medical training, they were traumatized by having to sit next to the dead body for the remaining four hours of the flight, even though there were other empty seats available where they could've been relocated.

When barreling through the sky in a metal tube 38,000 feet in the air, resources are limited, and some passengers may find the airline's unexpected protocols as strange and insensitive. Even if you're riding with one of the safest airlines in the world, handling a death in the air is inevitably going to be different than managing an emergency on the ground.