What happens when someone dies on a plane?

According to a longtime flight attendant with Delta, here is the protocol:

"It's one of the most unsettling questions in air travel - and one few people want to think about. What happens when someone dies mid-flight?

According to longtime Delta flight attendant Mary Wallace Walke (also know as MW), who spent 35 years flying internationally, deaths in the air aren't as rare as you might think-and the protocol for handling them might surprise you.

"Sometimes passengers die mid-flight," Walke says. "Death certificates can't be issued until a plane lands because they are state specific. The occasional times this happened, the process was to wrap a blanket around their shoulder, put the oxygen mask on them and don't turn it on. If they were in the window seat, you would lean the passenger against the wall of the plane."

It's not exactly high-tech, but the approach serves a practical purpose. With nowhere to safely store a body and no medical examiner onboard, flight attendants are trained to preserve dignity and minimize alarm. In many cases, other passengers may not even realize someone has passed.

According to the FAA, if a passenger becomes unresponsive in the air, the crew must first attempt resuscitation or seek medical assistance from onboard professionals, if available. But once death is confirmed, the priority becomes maintaining calm until the aircraft lands and local authorities can officially take over.

And if the person dies before boarding?

"If they die in the gatehouse," Walke adds, "it wasn't our problem."

Sad and just plain unpleasant to think about? Yes. But for flight crews who face a wide range of unpredictable emergencies at 35,000 feet, it's just part of the job - and one they're quietly prepared for."

Source - Alesandra Dubin - "This is what happens when someone dies on a plane, according to a flight attendant."