A flight attendant revealed what really happens when someone dies on board and the morbidity that led to the procedure having to be changed.
Mandy Smith, from West Sussex, who was a Virgin Atlantic cabin crew for 12 years and author of Cabin Fever: The Sizzling Secrets of a Virgin Air Hostess, spoke to LADbible TV to reveal some insight into the race during a recent episode of Honesty Box.
He admitted that previously, when passengers died on board, they were placed inside the toilets, but now their bodies are placed on the front seats.
She explained: ‘This hasn’t happened to me, thankfully. It happened to a friend of mine, who had a passenger die on the flight.
‘Now, we used to have to put passengers in the toilets and then lock them. But because they would be sitting on the toilet, as they were sitting there, if rigor mortis set in, they would be trapped in that position and wouldn’t be able to fit into their coffin.
Mandy Smith, from West Sussex, who was a Virgin Atlantic cabin crew for 12 years, revealed why they changed the rules if someone died on board
“So, unfortunately, now we have to lay them down in front of the seats and try to calm their loved ones, treat them with respect, cover them with blankets and maybe just cordon off the area with blankets tucked into the ceiling.” Which is what I would probably do.”
Mandy also explained what the law says if someone dies on a flight, and the cabin crew must officially continue going to their final destination.
She said: “If they died on board, it is the law that we as cabin crew have to move on.” Then, we have to continue doing any type of resuscitation until they are considered deceased.
‘So if there had been an accident on board, or if they had a heart attack, we would continue doing CPR.
‘But if it was someone who died of natural causes or another type of ailment, then obviously we wouldn’t need to do anything to them at that time.
‘We would have to contact ground services to be met by an ambulance or the coroner. “We wouldn’t really do it as an emergency landing, we would just treat it as a normal landing if that person definitely died.”
Elsewhere, Mandy revealed the likelihood of surviving a plane crash, saying the odds are really good nowadays.
She said, ‘You know, pilots have so much training that nowadays they could even land without engines, and you fly gliders, you fly small planes, you fly all kinds, and you have to have hundreds of hours of flying before. You even get your pilot’s license. They are very, very well trained.
Mandy admitted that before, when passengers died on board, they used to be placed inside the toilets, but now their bodies are lying on the front seats.
On the other hand, Mandy revealed the probability of surviving a plane crash and said that people’s chances are really good nowadays.
Mandy was a member of Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic cabin crew for over 12 years, flying all over the world.
‘I think there was an accident that week with Japan Airlines, and everyone got out, and the cabin crew were incredible, they got absolutely everyone out, and there was nothing left of the plane, once they were done, it was incinerated.’
Mandy added that the best place to sit on the plane is in the middle because ‘the wings stabilize you’, especially if you don’t like turbulence.
Meanwhile, the former flight attendant said hijacking training has also changed since 9/11, when Al Qaeda carried out four coordinated Islamist suicide terrorist attacks against the United States and 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners in 2001.
He said cabin crew used to ask passengers to remain seated, but now they are asking 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, give them a rugby tackle, get the passengers involved,’ but we have our signals for that and we would know what is happening, so then we would ask the passengers for help.”
The author revealed that 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 in the middle because ‘the wings stabilize you’, especially if you don’t like turbulence.
The author revealed that she also discovered people trying to join the mile-high club during flights, but said it doesn’t happen often.
She said, ‘I stopped people, knocked on the door and just said, you know, ‘Excuse me, can you come out?’, something like that, because I know what you’re doing.
“It’s worse when you have kids on board and it’s daytime, but if it’s on a night flight and they’re discreet, I probably wouldn’t even interrupt them, if I’m honest.”
Elsewhere, Mandy said overweight people have to pay for two seats under current airline rules.
She said: “When people buy things online nowadays, we can’t always see how big someone is, but if you take up more than one seat, you officially have to buy two seats.”
“I don’t know if you’re aware that when people sit at the front of an exit row or on a bulkhead, sometimes you have to be able to help someone in an emergency, and if you’re overweight, you would.” I won’t be able to help, because these seats are deliberately made thinner so that larger people won’t fit in them.
“So if you’re overweight, under 16, an elderly passenger or have a disability or those types of things, you can’t sit in those seats.”