Aviation explained: What happens if a person dies on a plane? Airlines do THIS

What happens if a person dies on a plane during a flight? If the question has ever crossed your mind, here we have all the details you need to quench your curiosity in our Aviation Explained series.

We are all aware of the incidents of planes making an emergency landing if a passenger faces some serious health issues. But do you know what happens when a person dies onboard? This incident seldom occurs, but isn't completely new to the aviation industry. If any such incident occurs on a flight, there are certain protocols and procedures the airlines and the officials onboard have to follow. Needless to say, avoiding such situations is of utmost priority, hence, if needed, providing medical assistance is the first step that the airline staff will take.

Talking about medical assistance, the airline's staff are trained to provide some help during a medical emergency, and if needed, medical professionals onboard are called upon for help. If a person's life is in imminent danger, the oxygen masks and defibrillators on board are used in an attempt to control the situation. If all of these attempts to control the situation fail, the body of the deceased is to be stored by the cabin crew in a dignified manner.

Plane's Diversion

A usual course of action will be to divert the airplane in issue, whether someone has already died or their life is in jeopardy. This enables the aircraft to land as soon as possible when more in-depth medical assistance is available. This can significantly impact a person who is struggling for their life's odds of survival. However, the protocols for such complicated situations may vary from airline to airline.

Moreover, in some cases, the passenger in distress can be handed over to the local medics. The medics, in such cases, will attempt to save the life of the passenger and may even transport him to the nearest hospital for much-needed medical attention and resuscitation attempts. There have been such cases in the past where passengers in the need of medical assistance were transported to the hospital for medical assistance. For instance, on 21 June, a Dubai-bound SpiceJet flight was diverted to Goa to provide medical assistance to a sick passenger.