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 the procedure had to be changed. 

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

She admitted that previously when passengers passed away on board they used to put inside the bathrooms, but now their bodies are laid across the front seats. 

She explained: 'This has not happened to me, thankfully. It has happened to a friend of mine, where they've had a passenger pass away on the flight.

'Now, we used to have to put passengers in the bathrooms, and then lock the bathrooms off. But because they would be seated on the toilet, as they sat there - if rigour mortis set in - then they would be then stuck in that position, and they wouldn't be able to fit in their coffin.

Mandy Smith, from West Sussex, who was cabin crew for Virgin Atlantic for 12 years, revealed the morbid reason why rules changed if someone dies on board

'So, 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.'

Mandy also explained what the law says if someone dies on a flight, with cabin crew officially having to keep going to their final destination.

She said: '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.' 

Elsewhere Mandy revealed the likelihood of surviving an airplane crash, saying the odds are really good nowadays. 

She said: 'You know, the pilots have so much training that they could even land without engines these days, and you fly gliders, you fly little aeroplanes, you fly all kinds, and you have to have so many hundreds of flying hours before you even get your pilot's licence. So, they're very, very well trained.

Mandy admitted that previously when passengers passed away on board they used to put inside the bathrooms but now their bodies are laid across the front seats

Elsewhere Mandy revealed the likelihood of surviving an airplane crash, saying people's odd are really good nowadays

Mandy was a member of cabin crew for Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic for more than 12 years, flying across the world

'I think there was a crash the week with Japan Airlines, and everyone got out, and the cabin crew were amazing, they got absolutely everyone out, and there was nothing left of the aeroplane, once they'd finished, it was incinerated.'

Mandy added that the best place to sit on the plane is the middle because 'the wings stabilise you', especially if you don't like turbulence. 

Meanwhile the former flight attendant said hijacking training has also changed since 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist suicide terrorist attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States and 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners in 2001.

She said before cabin crew used ask passengers to stay seated but now they ask them to 'get involved.' 

She said: 'Most of our procedures used to say, ''Sit in your seat, don't do this, don't say that, don't attack anyone, or don't stop them from doing what they're doing.''

'Now, we don't say that. We say, ''Stop them, rugby tackle them, 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 passengers.'

The author revealed she also caught people trying to join the mile high club during flights but said it 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 she also caught people trying to join the mile high club during flights but said it doesn't happen often

She said: 'I have stopped people, knocked on the door, and just said, you know, "Excuse me, can you come out," kind of thing, cause I kind of know what you're doing.

'It's worse when you've got children on board, and it's in the daytime, but if it's on a night flight, and they're being discreet, I probably wouldn't even interrupt them, if I'm honest.'

Elsewhere Mandy said overweight people do have to pay for two seat in the actual airline rules.

She said: 'When people are buying things online these days, we can't always see how big someone is, but if you do fill more than one seat, you are officially meant to buy two seats.

'I don't know if you're aware, when people sit at the front of an exit row or in a bulkhead, sometimes you have to be be able to help someone in an emergency, and if you're overweight, you wouldn't be able to help, 'cause these seats are made purposefully skinnier so that you can't fit bigger people in them.

'So, if you're overweight, under 16, elderly passenger, or disabled, that kind of thing, you're not allowed to sit in those seats.'