# What happens when someone passes away on a plane? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001 "2010-05-27T22:10:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/41 "2010-05-29T04:58:14Z")
I think someone died on my flight on Wednesday. Either that or the curry they had before the flight gave them terrible wind. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/42 "2010-05-29T05:09:58Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > Since I know this question will be asked, if someone dies on an airplane on a treadmill, they become a zombie. They are very annoying and demand the whole armrest. Do they have to buy two seats and if so, will Kevin Smith complain? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/43 "2010-05-29T05:21:15Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Considering the poor quality of the work the cabin clean up crews do these days, how do you know the next flight your on you’re not sitting on the death seat, aka the shitter seat. They swap out the seat at the destination. At least that was what the stew explained after one of my kids ralphed all over the seat. BTW, this was where I learned about used coffee grounds absorbing bad smells. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/44 "2010-05-29T05:57:52Z")
Since we are talking about… um moving dead bodies and airlines and all, I would like to give this tip to folks. Your aisle seat armrest does swing up. There is a little button underneath and to the rear of the armrest that allows you to do this. At least on the AirBus. It’s a lock that can be released. At 210lbs and 6’4” it’s a great help for me to be able to move the aisle armrest and slid my legs out, instead of trying to climb around it. Helps everyone. it’s one of the first things I look for. This makes it much, much easier for people to get out and stand up. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/45 "2010-05-29T07:13:02Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Sorry, that wasn’t very clear. I quoted you to counter your statement that options 2 to 4 wouldn’t be possible or practical. I think it depends on the aircraft type. Or the load factor. I flew on 4 737s last week, all totally jammed. Luckily, no one died on them. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/46 "2010-05-29T07:25:09Z")
If someone dies near the start of a long haul flight I’d hope they’d be in a reclined seat or laid out in the aisle. Moving the body on landing would be a bitch if they’ve gone into full rigour mortis in the upright position! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/47 "2010-05-29T08:36:16Z")
Depends on whether the in-flight menu includes Soylent Green. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/48 "2010-05-29T09:39:26Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > Do not the recently dead crap themselves? Not always. And not always immediately even when they do. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/49 "2010-05-29T10:11:14Z")
[Samuel L. Jackson]I have had it with these \*motherfucking dead people \*on this motherfucking plane[/Samuel L. Jackson] ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/50 "2010-05-29T10:58:56Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > Since I know this question will be asked, if someone dies on an airplane on a treadmill, they become a zombie. They are very annoying and demand the whole armrest. Surely they just stop the treadmill and take the body off - I mean, this all happens on the ground, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/51 "2010-05-29T12:08:57Z")
ASIDE: I know that the cruise ships (even the fairly small ones, with 100 passengers or so) have a refrigerated compartment for storing anyone who croaks on the cruise. Of course, that’s different from on a plane. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/52 "2010-05-29T12:11:40Z")
Many years ago (I am talking the 70’s) a local trawler- quite a large one- had a crew member croak. They put him in the freezer room until they returned to port and the catch was condemned. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/53 "2010-05-29T14:57:16Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Many years ago (I am talking the 70’s) a local trawler- quite a large one- had a crew member croak. They put him in the freezer room until they returned to port and the catch was condemned. _Someone_ has to say it: So he was literally sleeping with the fishes? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/54 "2010-05-29T15:10:24Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Hmm, sit next to a corpse or a small child? The corpse of a small child might be where I’d draw the line. ---
**Author:** ![Zygoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ee7513/32.png) [@Zygoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zygoma)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/55 "2010-05-29T15:50:30Z")
Singapore Airlines has introduced a special ‘corpse cupboard’ into some of its more recent aircraft. Not sure if any other airlines have followed suit. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/56 "2010-05-29T19:32:52Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Many years ago (I am talking the 70’s) a local trawler- quite a large one- had a crew member croak. They put him in the freezer room until they returned to port and the catch was condemned. That’s also happens on USN submarines (since they don’t have morgue facilities like surface ships); though in wartime they’d just be buried at sea via the torpedo tube. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001/57 "2010-05-30T05:29:10Z")
> [@Zygoma](#): > > Singapore Airlines has introduced a special ‘corpse cupboard’ into some of its more recent aircraft. Not sure if any other airlines have followed suit. Neatness would be especially important to them, wouldn’t it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-someone-passes-away-on-a-plane/541001.md?page=2)