Amicus

My colleague just checked in for flight 296 ORD-LHR leaving tonight.
BA check-in staff are informing all pax on this flight that they will be leaving LATE, though no definite time is set, because there was a "medical emergency" on board the inbound plane to ORD.
Upon arrival in the lounge, staff is overheard talking about someone dying on board the plane, but no one will confirm this.
Has anyone heard this about a BA flight inbound to ORD this afternoon?

secretbunnyboy

If I say "yes", how will that information help you?

vSFU

Passengers regularly die on planes - but only once in their lifetime

Fraser

Bearing in mind the numbers of people on aircraft it isn't a surprise people die from time to time....

Real back of the envelope stuff here...
Consider a full BA 747 has 359 passengers and average life expectancy is say 70yrs. On average 5.1 of those passengers will die each year. That is one every 72 days. The average longhaul flight may be 9hrs, so on average that is one death every 192 flights. Then factor in that the very elderly and sick probably won't fly...

I even spoke to someone who said the A380 may even need space for a morgue

PS. Anyone remember when Fatboy Slim played on Brighton Beach to I think 250,000? A handful of people died during the concert and it was just coincidence (although I think one took drugs and fell 20ft) but bearing in mind the huge numbers of people not really surprising...

Tits McGhee

I'll try and get hold of the figure that we're told during training, but I seem to remember it being close to maybe 20 deaths a year on BA flights. I might be way off, but that's the number stuck in my head.

As crew, we're fantastically well trained to prevent this from happening but, as is the case in hospitals where training is far superior and the facilities available to deal with medical emergencies is more advanced, when it's your time, it's your time. No amount of CPR and other treatment will help.

As for the morgue, Singapore Airlines' A340-500 which do the longhaul SIN-LAX runs are fitted with a chilled morgue area where a body can be stored.

Typically, if someone dies in flight, most airlines will not divert. The cost associated with diverting coupled with the inconvenience to the family members of having their deceased loved one in an unusual country (plus the fact that diverting really wouldn't help anyone) makes most flights just continue to destination - hence why SQ operating a 19 hour flight really has the need for this facility.

Gizmos

Thought that I had read somewhere that the flight is obliged to divert but most airlines overcome this by saying the passenger died an hour from destination, aleviating a lot of paperwork and incurring additional fees

blawson

I think that is stated in the book Air Babylon I recently read.

It must be a nightmare on a full flight if someone passes on - what do they do with the body - do they just leave it seated?

On my last two flights paramedics have got on - once before anyone got off and once once everyone was off.

Tits McGhee

There's no set rule. If possible, we'd move the passenger to First or Club but if no seats were available there, they'd have to remain in their existing seat

Worst thing to do is put the deceased in the toilet. When Rigor Mortis sets in, it's a nightmare getting the doors open and getting the passenger out again.

SLF

...........

27R

How about the crew berths?

Tits McGhee

I think that, if the births weren't either up or down stairs (i.e. if they were on the main deck), that would be an option. Moving a body to the bunks though would just be an absolute nightmare and we're certainly not insured to do so.

Edited to add : On our bunk-equipped 777s, the flight crew bunks are infront of 2R on the main deck. This would probably be used if alternative rest facilities were available for the flight crew, but ensuring flight crew have adequate rest is of course the priority.

roundtheworld

unless they shove them down the service elevator in the galley then I wonder where it is.

However the crew rest area of the SQ 345 is in the aft cargo area, and from there you have access to the cargo hold... so I assuem they can store the person in he cooler climate of the cargo hold.

Tits McGhee

Near 2R I believe - behind the crew Jump Seats. It's certainly on the main deck.

YVR Cockroach

Do a search. There was a lengthy thread when the service was 1st introduced. The storage area is in a galley.

The Saint

Just imagine if the deceased passenger was in one of the middle economy seats on a full 747. What on earth would you do then?