A passenger who died on a Turkish Airlines flight en route from Istanbul to San Francisco was offloaded during an emergency stop in Chicago, but their body is now reportedly unaccounted for, SFGATE reports.
Turkish Airlines Flight 79 departed Istanbul on July 13, and while flying over Greenland, a passenger suffered a severe medical emergency. Although the crew initially planned to divert to Iceland, the passenger’s condition worsened, and they died before the plane diverted to Chicago.
“Consequently, the decision was made to continue toward North America rather than divert outside US airspace,” Aviation A2Z told SFGATE. “Upon entering the airspace over the United States, the crew opted to land at Chicago O’Hare, a major international hub capable of handling emergency landings with adequate medical support and facilities.”
Although the passenger’s body should fall under the jurisdiction of the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, a spokesperson told SFGATE there is no record of the deceased or any matching case.
Today, its unclear where the remains are.
The Turkish Airlines station manager in San Francisco confirmed that remaining passengers were rerouted to their destination, but the whereabouts of the deceased passenger’s remains are unknown.
The airline has neither confirmed the passenger’s identity nor disclosed the cause of death, beyond noting it stemmed from a medical emergency.
The Independent has contacted representatives for Turkish Airlines, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office for comment.
A 2021 study found that the mortality rate on a plane is about .21 per million passengers, according to flight-delayed.com. The most common causes of death include pulmonary embolisms, cardiac arrests and respiratory issues.
