It’s one of the most traumatic and emotional experiences flight crews face: How to handle a situation when a passenger aboard the flight has died.

Medical emergencies occur on a regular basis, where a passenger feels faint, passes out, or is having a difficult time breathing. In those instances, the flight crew will make an announcement to determine if there are any medical professionals aboard the flight who might be able to offer immediate care.

Under fortunate circumstances, the flight will have such a first responder and the crew can determine how serious the situation is in short order. If the flight is over land, the question which needs to be answered immediately is “How bad is the situation?” It takes an aircraft at least 20 minutes to land and if it turns out to be a serious medical situation, seconds are critical.

In most instances, the passenger begins to feel better and the flight continues on its way, after a few anxious moments. Having been on international flights when such aid is needed, I can say how fortunate it is when someone steps forward to help an ailing traveler.

But what are the procedures if the passenger…dies?

Each year we have more than 60 million flight operations which transports over 600 million passengers, so it’s bound to happen sooner or later. A few times a year a passenger will die during a flight and the airline crew is forced to deal with one of the most emotional situations they will ever encounter.

Normally one passenger will notice another passenger is unresponsive and the flight crew will be summoned. Shortly thereafter a request will go out among the passengers for a medical professional, who might be able to render aid. If no such person is aboard, the flight attendants have medical kits on the flight which are designed to revive passengers who are having heart attacks or who have died. (Defibrillators are required equipment on aircraft.)

During an emergency such as this, the flight crew is in contact with medical personnel on the ground (like calling 911) and everything possible is done to revive the passenger. Sometimes the efforts are successful, as the flight is immediately diverted to the nearest airport allowing additional critical care to be administered.

However, and sadly so, sometimes the efforts are not successful and the passenger is declared deceased.

When this occurs, a host of things are happening at once. First, the exact location of the flight at the time of death is recorded, along with the passenger’s nationality, since international laws will (at times) dictate whether or not a quarantine is required for passengers and crew when the flight arrives at their destination.

The body of the deceased is normally moved to a remote part of the plane, if possible, which many times is First Class. The body is required by law to be secured, so it is wrapped in a blanket (some airlines even have bags which the body can be wrapped in) and secured to a seat. If the flight is full, the body will be repositioned and secured to a window seat, with blankets covering the body. Surprising to many, in many instances the flight will actually continue to its original destination.

If the deceased was traveling with family members, flight crews will attempt to console, as much as possible, the rest of the traveling party - many times trying to relocate them to another portion of the plane, if so desired.

So while it does not happen but a few times a year, it is nice to know that airlines (who many times are known for dropping the ball of customer service on our feet!) go above and beyond the call of duty during such a tragic time.

It’s one more piece of flight crew training that the public is completely unaware of. Let’s hope it’s training they never need to utilize.