
Tragedy struck passengers on Alaska Airlines as a passenger died while on a flight to Nashville last Monday. The flight arrived at Nashville International Airport at around 3 p.m. from Seattle, Washington. An onlooker pulled out a phone and shared video of the body being removed from the Alaska Airlines plane. The medical examiners office can be seen carrying a gurney with the body off the plane.
The airlines sent a statement to media: “Our hearts are with the family, and out of respect for their privacy we will not be sharing any more details.” No information has been released on the name of the deceased. In addition, the cause of death also has not yet been released by the medical examiner’s office.
This is not the first death. Last week a British passenger died of what is believed to have been a heart attack while aboard a TAP Air plane traveling from London to Lisbon. The elderly became unconscious on the plane. The pilot made an emergency landing at Santiago de Compostela Airport in Spain. Emergency responders tried to revive the passenger, but he was pronounced dead.
Last year, there was a death on a plane where a grandfather on a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Spain with his grandchildren died of a heart attack. But, experts say the deaths mid-flight are rare. Only 0.3% of roughly 11,000 airline passengers who had medical emergencies from 2008 to 2010 died during the trip. This information was researched and is based on a 2013 New England Journal of Medicine study.
Passenger deaths on planes can be scary and strange. The International Air Transport Association recommends that crew members move the body to a seat that is not close to many other passengers. If the flight is full, the association suggests restraining the body by putting it backing into the person’s assigned seat with a seatbelt. They even suggested placing the body in a book bag.