Flight attendant reveals what happens if someone dies on a plane

A flight attendant on TikTok has revealed something few of us know about — what happens to the body of a passenger who dies mid-flight.

A flight attendant who shares secrets from her job has revealed what happens in the harrowing event of someone dying during a flight.

The airline worker, who goes by the name of @daniboyy on TikTok, shares videos talking about her experiences with her more than 266,000 followers.

In a recent video, she discusses a difficult topic that thankfully few passengers know much about — what happens when a passenger dies.

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She said while she has never had the tragic experience on one of her flights, many of her flight attendant friends have, and airlines are prepared for the possibility.

“Cabin crew can’t legally declare someone dead,” the flight attendant said in the video.

“If the captain decides to not divert the plane, the body will remain on the aircraft until they have reached their final destination.

The flight attendant reveals what happens when someone dies on a flight. Picture: @daniboyy1

“If there is space, the body may be moved to an empty row of seats or to different galley or cabin. but if the flight is full, the passenger will stay in their original seat until they have reached their destination.”

Other airline workers have shed light on the sensitive subject.

Sheena Marie, another flight attendant on TikTok, said deceased passengers were typically covered with a blanket.

Passengers would then be let off the plane before medical professionals board to remove the body, and the plane taken out of service.

Family members of the dead passenger would also be contacted.

An airline passenger has previously described what happened when her husband passed away on a long-haul Air New Zealand flight between Los Angeles and Auckland.

“We were in business class and he went to sleep in a lie flat sleeper seat and did not wake up,” the woman said, according to The Sun.

“When he would not wake up, I got a flight steward who then went and fetched a passenger who was a doctor.

Flight attendant Sheena Marie shared more detail about the tragic circumstances of a in-flight death.

“He performed the usual signs of life tests and declared him deceased approximately four hours prior to landing.

“He stayed in his sleeper seats covered with a blanket for the rest of the journey and I lay beside him and held him until we landed.”

There is also a name for dead bodies on a plane – Jim Wilson.

According to Sara Marsden, editor-in-chief for US Funerals Online, American Airlines even has a dedicated help desk for funeral homes that they call the American Airlines Jim Wilson Service.

The nickname allows transport services or undertakers to call about a dead body without anyone overhearing, and the name comes from the crates that are used to transport the bodies.

The Alcor 1997 Stabilisation and Transport Manual explains that Jim Wilson Trays are often used as the shipping container and are packed with ice to preserve the human remains.

Other airlines simply call the dead bodies HR, an abbreviation for human remains.

— with The Sun.