The passenger died mid-air on the Turkish Airlines flight (Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The body of an 83-year-old passenger who died mid-air on a Turkish Airlines flight has reportedly gone missing.
Flight TK79 took off from Istanbul and was in the air for almost 12 hours when a passenger had a ‘severe medical emergency’ on July 13.
The unnamed individual died while the plane was flying over Greenland,with the decision being made to carry on to Chicago in the US.
This is because Chicago O’Hare Airport had suitable medical facilities to deal with an in-flight death,according to Aviation A2Z.
However,after touchdown,the dead body has seemingly disappeared into thin air.
Turkish Airlines says the corpse was removed from the plane and transferred to a flight to San Francisco.
But the local medical examiner’s officers told US media that it never received the body,according to San Francisco news site SFGATE.
The body reportedly went missing at Chicago O’Hare Airport (Picture: AP)
The Cook County office also does not have records documenting the death or confirming a transfer.
The remaining passengers continued on their way to San Francisco in a separate flight.
No more information has been released about the identity of the person who died on board Flight TK79.
Turkish Airlines full statement
You can find the statement of our company on the matter below:
On our TK79 IST-SFO flight on July 13,2025,an 83-year-old passenger traveling with WCHR medical note became unwell during the flight. Despite all medical interventions performed by two doctors on board and our crew—including CPR and defibrillation—the passenger’s heart stopped,and he passed away.With the joint decision of the captain and OCC (Operations Control Center),and with the consent of the passenger’s accompanying relatives on board,it was decided that the flight would proceed to San Francisco without diversion. Accordingly,authorities and police in San Francisco (SFO) were informed,and all necessary procedural preparations were carried out.Due to the requirement for re-fueling,a diversion was made to Chicago (ORD). Upon landing the airport authority and the police were accordingly informed by our officials. Following the re-fueling and with the necessary approvals from the authorities,the consent of the passenger’s relatives,and the decision of OCC and the captain,it was deemed operationally viable for the flight to continue to San Francisco (SFO).Upon landing—approximately five and a half hours later than scheduled—all passengers,crew,and the deceased passenger’s relatives were met by law enforcement officials. Statements of crew and relatives were taken,and the official reports were filed. Additionally,after all passengers had disembarked,an autopsy officer arrived and conducted the required reporting process related to the incident.The deceased passenger and their relatives onboard were disembarked from the aircraft under the supervision of law enforcement and the autopsy officer. The aircraft was subsequently cleared to resume operations as scheduled.Metro has approached Turkish Airlines,Chicago Airport and Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office for comment.Mid-air flights are as rare as 0.21 deaths per million passengers.In March,a woman died on an easyJet flight from Tenerife to Liverpool,despite the efforts of passengers who tried to save her life.The flight was diverted to an airport in northern Spain and the woman died before she could be treated.A Turkish Airlines plane made another emergency landing in New York in October last year after the pilot suddenly fainted and died in the middle of the flight.The pilot ‘collapsed during the flight,’ Turkish Airlines spokesman Yahya Üstün wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
