Former flight attendant reveals what really happens if someone dies on board a plane – and why the rules had to change

A flight attendant revealed what really happens when someone dies on board, and the morbid reason why the procedure had to be changed.

Mandy Smith, from West Sussex, who was a cabin crew for Virgin Atlantic for 12 years and is the author of Cabin Fever: The Sizzling Secrets of a Virgin Air Hostess, spoke to LAD Bible TV to reveal some career insight during a recent episode of Honesty Box.

She admitted that in the past, when passengers died on board, they would be put in the bathrooms, but now their bodies are placed over the front seats.

She explained: ‘Thankfully this didn’t happen to me. It happened to a friend of mine where a passenger died during the flight.

‘We used to have to put passengers in the bathrooms and then close the bathrooms. But because they would be sitting on the toilet, the way they were sitting there – if there was rigor mortis – then they would be stuck in that position and they wouldn’t be able to fit in their coffin.

“So now we unfortunately have to put them over the front of the seats and try to calm their loved ones down, treat them with respect, cover them with blankets and maybe just cordon off the area with blankets stuck in the overheads, that’s probably what I would do.’

Mandy also explained what the law says if someone dies during a flight, where the cabin crew must officially continue to their final destination.

She said: “If they die on board, it is the law that we as cabin crew have to carry on. So we must continue to perform any form of CPR until they are presumed dead.

‘So if there was an accident on board, or if they had a heart attack, we just continued CPR.

‘But if it was someone who died of natural causes or another illness, then of course we don’t have to do anything about it.

‘We need to contact ground services so we can be met by an ambulance or the coroner. We wouldn’t really do it as an emergency landing, we would just treat it as a normal landing if that person is definitely dead.”

Elsewhere, Mandy revealed the likelihood of him surviving a plane crash, saying the odds are very good these days.

She said, ‘You know, the pilots have so much training that nowadays they can land even without engines, and you fly gliders, you fly small planes, you fly all kinds, and you have to have so many hundreds of hours of flying before you even get your pilot’s license. So they are very, very well trained.

Mandy admitted that in the past, when passengers died on board, they were put in the bathrooms, but now their bodies are placed over the front seats

Elsewhere, Mandy revealed the odds of surviving a plane crash, saying people’s odds are very good these days

Mandy was a cabin crew member of Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic for over twelve years and flew all over the world

“I think there was a crash this week with Japan Airlines, and everyone got off, and the cabin crew was great, they actually got everyone out, and there was nothing left of the plane. Once they were done, it was burned. ‘

Mandy added that the best place to sit on the plane is the middle because “the wings stabilize you,” especially if you don’t like turbulence.

Meanwhile, the former flight attendant said hijacking training has also changed since September 11, when al-Qaeda carried out four coordinated Islamic suicide bombing attacks on the United States and 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners in 2001.

She said that previously the cabin crew would ask passengers to remain seated, but now they are asking them to “join in.”

She said: “Most of our procedures always said, ‘Sit down, don’t do this, don’t say that, don’t attack anyone, or stop them from doing what they’re doing. .”

‘We’re not saying that now. We say, ‘Stop them, tackle them with rugby, get the passengers involved’, but we have our signals for that, and we would know what’s happening, so we would then ask for help from the passengers.”

The author revealed that she also caught people trying to join the Mile High Club during flights, but said this doesn’t happen often.

Mandy added that the best place to sit on the plane is the middle because “the wings stabilize you,” especially if you don’t like turbulence

The author revealed that she also caught people trying to join the Mile High Club on flights, but said this doesn’t happen often

She said, ‘I’ve stopped people, knocked on the door and just said, “Excuse me, can you come out,” something like that, because I kind of know what you’re doing.

“It’s even worse if you have kids on board, and that’s during the day, but if it’s a night flight and they’re being discreet, I probably wouldn’t even interrupt them, if I’m honest.”

Elsewhere, Mandy said that under airline rules, overweight people do indeed have to pay for two seats.

She said: ‘When people buy things online these days we can’t always tell how tall someone is, but if you occupy more than one seat you are officially supposed to buy two seats.

“I don’t know if you know that when people are sitting at the front of an exit row or in a bulkhead, sometimes you need to be able to help someone in an emergency, and if you’re overweight you would. I can’t help you because these seats are purposely made thinner so they won’t fit taller people.

“So if you’re overweight, under 16, an older passenger or have a disability, things like that, you’re not allowed to sit in those seats.”