A passenger died during Turkish Airlines Flight 79 from Istanbul to San Francisco on July 13, but the whereabouts of the body remain unknown, raising questions about handling procedures after the aircraft was diverted to Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
The flight departed Istanbul at approximately 2:30 p.m. local time and was nearly 12 hours into the journey when a passenger suffered a severe medical emergency while the aircraft flew over Greenland. Flight attendants performed CPR and consulted with medical personnel on the ground via radio, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
Initially, the crew prepared to divert to Keflavik Airport in Iceland, a common emergency stop for transatlantic flights. However, after the passenger was pronounced dead mid-flight, the urgency to make an emergency landing decreased, allowing the crew to continue toward North America rather than divert outside United States airspace.
The crew ultimately decided to land at Chicago O’Hare International Airport due to its capacity to handle emergency situations with adequate medical support and facilities. The aircraft landed safely at O’Hare at 6:20 p.m. and remained on the ground for approximately one hour before continuing to San Francisco.
Upon landing in Chicago, the body was removed from the aircraft and responsibility should have shifted to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. However, medical examiner spokesperson Natalia Derevyanny indicated the office has no record of a body being brought to them from the flight, nor any cases matching the description of the incident.
Turkish Airlines station manager Ertugrul Gulsen confirmed the diversion to Chicago O’Hare and stated that the passenger’s remains were later placed on a separate flight to San Francisco, but declined to provide further details. The airline has not confirmed the passenger’s identity, nationality, gender, or the specific cause of the medical emergency.
According to aviation protocols, when a passenger dies during flight, the urgency to land diminishes slightly, allowing crews to select airports better equipped to handle such situations comprehensively. Airlines follow strict procedures for onboard medical emergencies, with decisions to divert based on factors including the passenger’s medical state, nearest suitable airports, weather conditions, and availability of ground medical services.
Passengers aboard the flight witnessed the CPR efforts, and flight attendants provided privacy by holding up blankets during the medical emergency. Aviation A2Z reported that “this maneuver is a standard procedure that provides time to assess the passenger’s condition.”
Medical emergencies occur on approximately one in every 600 flights, or 16 per million passengers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, in-flight deaths are considerably less frequent, with about three out of every 1,000 medical incidents proving fatal.
A 2021 study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine analyzed approximately 1.5 billion passengers and determined an all-cause mortality rate of 0.21 per million passengers. Nearly all in-flight deaths unrelated to crashes result from cardiac arrest, often from heart conditions worsened by flight stresses including low oxygen levels and prolonged immobility.
This incident follows another Turkish Airlines tragedy in October 2024, when pilot Ilcehin Pehlivan, 59, died mid-flight during a journey from Seattle to Istanbul. That flight was diverted to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, where it landed safely under the control of the co-pilot.
The International Air Transport Association requires cabin crew to perform CPR until the patient’s breathing continues, conditions become unsafe for staff, all rescuers become exhausted, the aircraft lands, or the person is presumed dead. A patient may be presumed dead after receiving CPR for at least 30 minutes with no signs of life.
The mystery surrounding the current case centers on the apparent breakdown in the chain of custody for the deceased passenger’s remains. Standard protocols dictate that local medical examiner offices assume responsibility for bodies removed from aircraft during emergency diversions, but Cook County officials maintain they have no record of receiving or processing such a case from July 13.
Turkish Airlines has not provided additional clarification about the handling of the remains or explained the discrepancy between the station manager’s account and the medical examiner’s records. The cause of the passenger’s medical emergency also remains undisclosed.