# How is a human corpse brought through the airport onto a flight? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243 "2019-02-26T14:43:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/1 "2019-02-26T14:43:02Z")
Hi What are the individual steps taken by someone who wants to escort human remains/a corpse onto a commercial airliner? I’ve never seen caskets brought through the front doors of an airport. How are they actually brought in and then through customs and into the cargo hold? I’m specifically asking about escorted remains as opposed of shipping them on a cargo plane. I look forward to your feedback ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/2 "2019-02-26T15:09:38Z")
Ha ha… Friend of mine was on a flight when the local hearse backed into the 737; put a small hole in the fuselage near the cargo door. They waited 4 hours while the pilots went and got a tracing of the hole (days before digital cameras) faxed it to the airline mechanics, and finally got the all clear to fly with the minor damage. But this was a regional airport with minimal security in the days before 9-11 paranoia. I imagine someone saying “That’s Joe, dead 5 days and still causing trouble…” I know of at least 2 instances where my relatives had to travel with an urn full of ashes recently, and they have some sort of protocol for that. Visual inspection of the content, I think. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/3 "2019-02-26T16:03:51Z")
While waiting for a flight in Phoenix last June, I saw a van pull up near a plane. 4 baggage handlers removed the casket and wrestled it into the forward cargo compartment. The casket had a large orange tag tape to it that said “TSA OKAY”. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/4 "2019-02-26T16:44:28Z")
I don’t think they are required to be escorted if they are in the cargo hold. The military will send an officer to escort the coffin to the burial site. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/5 "2019-02-27T01:10:46Z")
I am sure the airlines will have a protocol. Ask them. When my wife escorted her step-mother, who had died in FL, to NY for burial next to her (my wife’s) father, the Miami funeral home and the NY cemetery made all the arrangements. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/6 "2019-02-27T01:50:14Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Hi > > What are the individual steps taken by someone who wants to escort human remains/a corpse onto a commercial airliner? I’ve never seen caskets brought through the front doors of an airport. How are they actually brought in and then through customs and into the cargo hold? I’m specifically asking about escorted remains as opposed of shipping them on a cargo plane. > I look forward to your feedback … use a wheelchair and tell the attendants that “she’s very deaf”… ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/7 "2019-02-27T02:00:46Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I don’t think they are required to be escorted if they are in the cargo hold. The military will send an officer to escort the coffin to the burial site. Not all corpses brought on flights are military. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/8 "2019-02-27T02:59:08Z")
I have experience with this, bodies in caskets are cargo/freight essentially. A little special handling is required, of course, but that’s what they are for the airline. Its not uncommon for airlines to transport bodies, and though procedures may vary, they all have them in place. As far as how the actually get to the plane, the hearse goes through a cargo gate, usually around the side of the terminal and drives directly to the plane. That was how it worked last time I witnessed it. Might not be that simple or easy these days though. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/9 "2019-02-27T03:29:07Z")
Since they’re traveling one way, I guess you could say they are dead-heading … ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/10 "2019-02-27T04:10:56Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I don’t think they are required to be escorted if they are in the cargo hold. The military will send an officer to escort the coffin to the burial site. FYI, if you want to see a dramatization of the process of escorting the body of a member of the military, look for the HBO Film _[Taking Chance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_Chance)_. It’s very good, and based on a [true story](https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/A-Marine-s-journey-home-2762679.php). ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/11 "2019-02-27T06:11:36Z")
Funeral homes transport bodies every day, and the airlines have routine procedures. The casket is just another piece of cargo in the hold. And, just like the other luggage, they sometimes get lost. When my grandmother died (30 years ago), the funeral home shipped her casket on a freight airline, and my family flew on a passenger flight an hour later. We arrived on time…the casket did not. Thus making a true case of the expression “being late to your own funeral”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/12 "2019-02-27T12:12:59Z")
My friend in Japan had a boss who died on a business trip to the States. He and the family went over and arraigned to take the body back. It takes making arrangements but it’s pretty standard stuff. My grandmother died in Utah and was buried in California. We joked about putting her on top of a car and driving, but we just had her flown instead. No one accompanied her ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/13 "2019-02-27T12:41:47Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > … use a wheelchair and tell the attendants that “she’s very deaf”… My nephew is an airline pilot and said something like this happened. There was a very elderly couple, and they figure the husband died en route. The wife was apparently either in denial or trying to hide the fact to avoid hassles. Airline personnel discovered this when they were switching planes. So then they had to take the body away (local morgue?) and there would be serious arrangements needed to have it shipped to his “final destination” for this remote location. My nephew felt really sorry that the wife had to endure this added hassle, but rules are rules. (So I wondered “is that because a dead person could not evacuate the plane in an emergency?”) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/14 "2019-02-27T14:40:12Z")
TSA will want to pat down the corpse. Empty its pockets into the tray. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/15 "2019-02-27T15:15:30Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > There was a very elderly couple, and they figure the husband\*\* died en route.\*\* I’ve heard that nobody en route has ever been allowed to die in an airplane. The reason is that you aren’t dead when you die…You can’t be legally dead until a licensed doctor signs a form declaring that you are dead. So if you’re dead, but there’s no doctor on the plane who has a license to practice in the jurisdiction where the plane lands, then you aren’t dead yet. The procedure is to place a blanket and oxygen mask over the body, and when the plane lands, let local authorities take over. Cite: a conversation I once had with a flight attendant at a party about 25 years ago, accompanied by more beer than I can handle now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/16 "2019-02-27T15:56:35Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I’ve heard that nobody en route has ever been allowed to die in an airplane. > The reason is that you aren’t dead when you die…You can’t be legally dead until a licensed doctor signs a form declaring that you are dead. > > So if you’re dead, but there’s no doctor on the plane who has a license to practice in the jurisdiction where the plane lands, then you aren’t dead yet. > The procedure is to place a blanket and oxygen mask over the body, and when the plane lands, let local authorities take over. > > Cite: a conversation I once had with a flight attendant at a party about 25 years ago, accompanied by more beer than I can handle now. 🙂 I gather they figured it out when they tried to move him from his seat at the stop-over. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/17 "2019-02-27T18:02:20Z")
"As far as how the actually get to the plane, the hearse goes through a cargo gate, usually around the side of the terminal and drives directly to the plane. " Thanks guestchaz. This goes somewhat towards what I was asking for. I understand that funeral homes usually take care of things like this. It was the procedure through cargo customs and loading the casket into the cargo hold that interested me. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/18 "2019-02-27T19:18:10Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I know of at least 2 instances where my relatives had to travel with an urn full of ashes recently, and they have some sort of protocol for that. Visual inspection of the content, I think. I did this in 2007, taking it as carry-on. The container went through the X-ray machine and they said, “We’re getting a reading of human remains.” Don’t ask me how they manage that out of a box of ashes. But I knew I had to have a certificate from the funeral home indicating this was human cremains, I showed it to them, and then was on my way. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/19 "2019-02-27T23:13:51Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > I have experience with this, bodies in caskets are cargo/freight essentially. A little special handling is required, of course, but that’s what they are for the airline. Its not uncommon for airlines to transport bodies, and though procedures may vary, they all have them in place. As far as how the actually get to the plane, the hearse goes through a cargo gate, usually around the side of the terminal and drives directly to the plane. That was how it worked last time I witnessed it. Might not be that simple or easy these days though. There is no way they would let a hearse go air-side at my passenger terminal. Either the body will go on a cargo plane, or it will be transferred to airport staff passenger-side. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243/20 "2019-02-28T15:10:25Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I’ve heard that nobody en route has ever been allowed to die in an airplane. > The reason is that you aren’t dead when you die…You can’t be legally dead until a licensed doctor signs a form declaring that you are dead. > > So if you’re dead, but there’s no doctor on the plane who has a license to practice in the jurisdiction where the plane lands, then you aren’t dead yet. > The procedure is to place a blanket and oxygen mask over the body, and when the plane lands, let local authorities take over. > > Cite: a conversation I once had with a flight attendant at a party about 25 years ago, accompanied by more beer than I can handle now. 🙂 That implies the assumption that nobody has died in an airplane where there was a doctor licensed to practice in the landing location, which pretty much leaves out internal flights in any country where doctors aren’t locally licensed and any locations where a doctor doesn’t need a local license in order to perform emergency procedures or declare someone dead. It’s not so much an urban legend as a case of beer-fueled speculation based on even more assumptions than beer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-a-human-corpse-brought-through-the-airport-onto-a-flight/830243.md?page=2)