Flight attendant reveals what really happens if someone dies onboard and it’s horrifying

A former flight attendant has detailed the true reality of what would happen onboard a commercial flight if someone were to pass away.

I mean, it's not the situation you want to be in, but unfortunately some people will go through the terrible travel ordeal during their lifetime.

It's also a difficult case for the staff working onboard the plane, and one flight attendant, who has a friend who experienced such, has explained what happened on one dreadful occasion.

Mandy Smith, who previously worked for Virgin Atlantic, spoke to LADbible about the official procedure they have to take in the tragic situation.

And while it may sound like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster, it does happen in real life.

"This has not happened to me, thankfully," Smith said during an episode of Honesty Box. "It has happened to a friend of mine, where they've had a passenger pass away on the flight.

Mandy Smith explained what happens if someone dies on a flight (LADbible Stories)

"We used to have to put passengers in the bathrooms, and then lock the bathrooms off."

This was a way to give the deceased person privacy, and also keep the body away from other passengers, but there was a problem.

Smith, who also spoke about the mile high club, explained: "Because they would be seated on the toilet, as they sat there - if rigor mortis set in - then they would be then stuck in that position, and they wouldn't be able to fit in their coffin."

Cases of rigor mortis, stiffening of the joints and muscles of a body a few hours after death, can mean that morticians have to take extra measures to get someone into their coffin.

This includes flexing the muscles and joints to relieve the tension, effectively giving the corpse a massage.

But there is a way to prevent the need for this, which is ensuring that a corpse is laid out flat so 'sets' in a more convenient position.

Smith added: "Unfortunately, now, we have to lay them across the front of the seats and try and calm their loved ones down.

"Treat them with respect, cover them with blankets, and maybe just cordon the area off with blankets tucked into the overheads, which is what I would probably do."

The former flight attendant went on to say: "If they passed away on board, it's the law that we, as cabin crew, have to keep going. So, we have to keep doing any kind of resuscitation until they're deemed to be deceased.

"So, if it was an accident that happened on board, or if they had a heart attack, we would then just keep going doing CPR.

"But if it was someone who passed away from natural causes, or another kind of ailment, then obviously, we wouldn't need to do anything to them then.

"We'd need to contact the ground services to be met by an ambulance or the coroner. We wouldn't really do it as an emergency landing, we'd just treat it as a normal landing if that person's definitely passed away."