What Happens When There’s an In-Flight Emergency? How Airlines and Passengers Are Supposed to Respond
So far in 2024, several in-flight medical emergencies have made headlines around the world. In early January, a passenger on a Jet2 flight from Tenerife, Spain, to Manchester, England, died after being found unresponsive in the lavatory. Passengers on a Munich-bound Lufthansa flight in early February described the “absolute horror” onboard when a man began gushing “liters” of blood from his nose and mouth; the flight returned to Bangkok for an emergency landing, but the passenger died on the plane. A third incident occurred on a flight from Punta Cana to Charlotte in late February when a 41-year-old female passenger began convulsing; the flight was diverted, but she later died at a hospital.