haddon90

it may be unprofessional to divert, but ethically and morally, it's something you would expect. i can't speak for everyone, but if i found out a pax hung himself in the lavatory, i'd be very uncomfortable continuing on to LAX. also, you should show respect to the person that died, and not let him just hang there for an additional 2+ hours. for people that complained they missed their connection, they should be on the no-fly list. i can't even imagine what the pax actually went through when word spread why they were actually landing.

Roger Lococco

Aside from the moral implications, I don't think this is realistic.

1. Liability. What if the person isn't actually dead?
2. Safety -
a) if it's a homicide;
b) the crew really isn't able to function fully after going through that. So not 100% in case there's another emergency
3. PR nightmare

TravelinWilly

With all due respect to everyone, after looking at the snippet in the Denver article, we don't really know if it was suicide or an accident. Either way, it's sad and shocking for all involved.

Will

Cmdr2001

For those that say the flight should not have diverted. How do you know that the person was not still alive or trying to be revived? An earlier poster said that FA's are not able to pronounce someone dead, so I would imagine that they would go on the premise that the person might be able to be revived, thus requiring a diversion to the nearest airport.

DrBeeper

"She explained that the crew is NOT qualified to declare anyone dead."

For good reason. Once an FA came to my seat and said that a passenger may be dead because they couldn't feel a pulse. I went with the FA to the passenger in question. He certainly looked like he could be deceased. I too could not feel a pulse. Upon trying to open his eyelids for a peek at his pupils, he said "What are you doing?" It turns out that he was obese (masking the pulse) and a very deep sleeper (all attempts to wake him failed). And there was no noticeable breathing (which would have been my next step after looking at the pupils). It certainly gave me and the FA a surprise.

formergr

Right. I worked as an EMT for several years, and we also did not have the authority to declare death, with two exceptions: 1)lividity, or the pooling of blood to the lowest areas of the body after death-- takes several hours so there's no possibility of a false pronouncement, 2) decapitation. For obvious reasons.

Superguy

What a shame.

I'm just astounded at how it could happen though. I didn't think there was a hook or other "attachment" that would be capable of holding a grown man in a lav. And furthermore, it's not like it could be like a "long drop" hanging that would break the neck. I would think that the person would have been thrashing and making all kinds of noise as he suffocated. I would think that would have been noticed.

Then again, there aren't many details out yet, so it will be interesting to see what comes of this.

I can imagine how traumatic it would be for those who found them. I had a friend whose dad hung himself. He was the one that found him in the garage. It devastated him.

Definitely a bad day for the crew, pax and UA.

formergr

A long drop is not needed. Most suicide hanging victims die from suffocation, not a broken neck. Without getting too graphic, a belt and a regular-height doorknob is all that's needed.

oklAAhoma

Oh, my. I am sure the pax was surprised as well.

Your point is well made. The flight crew should not be in the business of making death pronouncements (and I am sure they wouldn't want that responsibility).

I have to say that I am astonished that some have suggested that the plane should NOT have been diverted. It simply amazes me that several have stated the plane should have continued onward.

ozweepay

Elliot Hester, in his book "Plane Insanity", tells a story where a pax dies onboard. Hester was the FA who responded to the passenger ringing a call button to report that his seatmate didn't look so good. A doctor was onboard and declared the guy, but the seatmate didn't want to sit next to a corpse, so Hester found a military officer who was willing to sit next to the body until they reached their destination. I'm pretty sure they didn't divert.

(All from memory... some details may be wrong.)

ozweepay

And both of these stories led to landings in Colorado.

Superguy

Right, I knew it wasn't needed. Just that the "long drop" method was typically the most painless. That's why I was thinking that the body would thrash as it tried to get air while the person was suffocating.

ozweepay

More detailed report can be found here for those interested.

Man, I gotta go do something to cheer myself up now... depressing...

totti

Unbelievable story. I hope that I will never experience something like that.

FWAAA

I strongly disagree on the facts of this case. Some onboard deaths shouldn't cause a diversion, but I'll give the benefit of the doubt to the crew for this diversion. Why? Unless someone witnessed the suicide, it is certainly within the realm of possibility that it was a homicide. And with such uncertainty, if the crew wants to put the airplane down on the ground, I won't second-guess them.

I agree that diversion is not always necessary. Years ago, my seat opponent expired halfway (or maybe a little more than halfway) between LAX and LHR. After futile attempts to revive him, he was covered up and the kind crew found me another seat. There are plenty of points where we could have landed and off-loaded him, but in such a case I think that would have been completely unnecessary.