How to air transport dead body

I had to do it for my mother. Without going into the emotional details I would focus more on facts.

I have been living at Bangalore from last six years. My mother was diagnosed with Cancer two years back. Last year my wife and I brought her here from Jaipur (native place). Last few months were very painful. She wanted to visit Jaipur but health never permitted. After her death, the decision was to do the cremation at Jaipur.

If someone ends up in a similar situation, I hope this article smooth up the ride at least up to some extent. Though this is about Bangalore but the process is same all over India.

Let me get on the track now.

If you want to transport dead body to a nearby town then ambulances are available at any of the big hospitals. I inquired to St. John’s Hospital. They provide a freezer box that can be used to transport all over south India. You *may* still need to get embalming done. Call them and get full details.

If the destination is far away, flight is the only option left. One needs following documents to transport the body:

1. PNR number of booking for the passenger with whom the dead body will be booked as cargo.
2. Death Certificate from a Doctor.
3. Police Clearance.
4. Embalming Certificate.
5. Coffin Certificate.

Let’s get into details now. I will write when to do what later. I am writing down the process first.

PNR number of flight: 

The dead body is packed in a coffin and booked as normal cargo. One person must travel on the same flight. Book the ticket as usual. You will get the PNR number from here.

Death Certificate: 

If death happened in hospital then the hospital provides a certificate.

If the death happened at home then NO HOSPITAL can provide you death certificate if you bring the person as dead to them. This is rule. Do not waste time to go to a hospital and argue with authorities there.

You need to contact a nearby clinic or nursing home. Talk to any doctor there. If deceased person was in terminal stage and a doctor was visiting then he/she should be able to provide the death certificate. If the deceased person was in terminal stage but NO doctor was visiting then try to contact the nearby doctor in advance. Tell him/her the medical history. The Doctor may look at the medical reports and make a visit as well. All this is done to ensure that the death is natural. If the death happened naturally but suddenly then things may get complicated. You still need to visit the nearby doctor and explain him/her the situation. A family doctor can help also. If relatives are around then call them. In such situation doctor should be convinced that the death is natural. I guess, it depends on family to family on what they want to do when a fully healthy person dies suddenly. I do not know the options here. Talk to a nearby hospital or doctor on the possible ways out. Resolve the matter with the doctor completely and get him in confidence otherwise getting Police NOC will be a problem later.

Format of Death Certificate:

 The Death Certificate must have:

1.       Name of deceased person.
2.       Age
3.       Gender
4.       Name of Father or Husband.
5.       Place of death (Current residence)
6.       Cause of Death.
7.       If there have a known terminal decease, write that as well.
8.       Name and Sign of Doctor.
9.       Registration number and seal of Doctor. DO NOT MISS THIS. Missing this will make the certificate unacceptable at multiple places.

Police Clearance: 

Visit the police station which has the jurisdiction to the place of death. Tell them that you need the police clearance certificate to transport the body out of the city. They may ask several questions and see documents as well. The whole idea is to ensure that the death is natural and no crime is involved. Tell them the deceased person has the native to the other city. Bring ID proofs, address proof (both local and native) and medical reports. Last discharge summary is the most important document. Best is to carry ALL the documents with you. They look at the doctor’s death certificate and discuss among themselves to be sure that there is no police angle. They may visit the place of death as well. You need to write an application. If things are straight forward then the will write a Police NOC saying:

To Whom So Ever Concern

This is to certify that X aged about 100 years residing at [current address]  expired on [date]  due to [reason as mentioned by the Doctor on Death Certificate]  natural death.

There is no objection  to carry the dead body  to his/her native place to [native city].

Ensure to have seal and signature from the Police station.

Embalming Certificate: 

Embalming must be done before transporting the body on plane. This facility is present at St. John’s Medical College. It should be present at all the big government hospitals or at least the hospitals that have medical colleges as well. At St. John’s Medical college the contact person is Mr. Satish (09880962126). If phone does not work then go to the Department of Anatomy. There is  Embalming section on the 3^rd floor of the building. People over here are extremely helpful. They are ready to work any time of the day in case of emergency. If the death happened during night then the department may be closed. You may need to contact the Information desk at the emergency department of the hospital to get someone’s phone number. Try visiting the department just in case someone is still there.  Having said all that your first option should be to call Mr. Satish (can’t stop thanking this person).

Once you take the body here, they will verify the Death Certificate. The process of Embalming will not take much time (less than an hour). The charges are Rs 4500/- which you need to pay to the billing counter at OPD or Emergency.

While embalming grooming and clothing of the body is also done. If you want the body to have some kind of make up or want a particular dress then bring all that with you. All religions have different traditions. Consult elders in the family for details. But this is the best time if you plan to do something like this.

Finally the body is sealed inside the coffin. After inspection Embalming Certificate is provided there. Embalming Certificate says that the body does not provide any hazard and safe for transport by air.

Where is embalming section in St. John Hospital?:

While coming from Madiwala Checkpost on Sarjapur Road there are three gates to the St. John’s Hospital back to back on the service road. These gates take you to the main Hospital. After 150 meters there is another gate to the left, marked as Gate-2. Turn to left to take this gate. Go inside 100 meters. On right there is Department of Anatomy. However, actual embalming is done at the Embalming Section at the back side of the building. To reach there take the right just after entering Gate -2. Reach to basketball court. Take left, another left and right just after that. On left there is a room for Embalming (Coordinates lat=12.9294473 lon=77.6207927). 

Coffin Certificate: 

You need a coffin to transport the body. There are many agencies for this purpose. Mr. Satish (from St. John’s Hospital Embalming Section) gave me contact of Mr. Pinto (09845173349). He is very helpful person. You can reach him in case of emergency any hour of the day. Tell him the address. He will send his transport vehicle along with 2 persons. You can shift the body from home to the Embalming section on this vehicle. These people will bring a coffin with them. After embalming, the body will be sealed inside the coffin. After inspection coffin certificate will be provided.

You have all the documents now. But documents will not do the transport. Read my personal experience below to find what I did. People at Embalming section or Mr. Pinto will guide you on low level details.

At this crisis of life, it is important to manage what to do when?

When to do what

1. Very first thing is to get Death Certificate from Doctor.
2. Call Embalming Section (Mr. Satish) and Coffin Agency (Mr. Pinto) in parallel.
3. Book passenger flight ticket. This will give idea how much time you have. You must reach airport before 3 hours before departure. Add time for embalming, road transport and airport transport time to this. In short, book flight with at least 8 hours in your hands.
4. Mr. Pinto will take around 1 hour to reach the place of death. You can run around the Doctor in this time to arrange the death certificate. Do not move the body unless you have the Death Certificate.
5. Move the body to the Embalming Section. Let Mr. Pinto go ahead with this.
6. Go to the Police Station.
7. After getting the police NOC go to the embalming section. Make the payments there. You will have all the documents there.
8. 6 set of Photocopies of all the documents are needed. If you are in odd timings when the shops are closed (midnight?) then talk to a friend or relative if they can go to their offices and get the photocopies. Most of the big offices have photocopy machines working 24x7.
9. Mr. Pinto will transport the body to the airport cargo section. The passenger may choose to go with him or later if you still have time. But make sure to reach there before 3 hours of departure.
10. Book the coffin as cargo. Mr. Pinto will guide you to the process. Get the receipts with you.
11. Go to the terminal and travel as usual.
12. Get down from the plane at the destination. Cargo takes much longer time to come out. Though human remains are highest priority but they cannot move faster than walking humans.
13. Show the receipt and collect the coffin at the destination.

Things to carry while running around:

1. ALL the medical reports, specially the last discharge summary.
2. Pen.
3. Blank papers to write applications
4. Lots of cash
5. ID and Address proof of the deceased person. Both original and at least 5 photocopies.
6. ID and Address proof of the person making the application. Both original and at least 5 photocopies.

Cost:

1. Coffin Charges: 12,000 + 1000 (tip for helping me out with utmost sincerity at this tough time)
2. Embalming: 4,500. 
3.  Death Certificate: 1,000/- (Doctor’s charges to visit home and write the certificate)
4. Police NOC: 200. (Should be free of change ideally. But you know what I mean)
5. Cargo Charges: 6,400/- (Charges while booking coffin. All airlines transport human remains on discounted prices. Air India gives maximum discount).
6. Passenger tickets. Variable. But generally high do to last moment booking. I paid 28,000 for two people from Bangalore to Jaipur.

My personal experience 

(In short summary of 24 hours from 28-Nov-2012 morning)

My Mother was suffering from Lung Cancer with metastasis to almost whole body. The Doctors had no active treatment for her. We all knew sooner or later she is going to leave us. I went to her Oncologist for general consultation on 28^th morning. She told me to get her admitted to a Hospital so that in case of death the Hospital provides the death certificate. We wanted my mother to be at home. In this case, the Oncologist suggested arranging a doctor from nearby clinic who can visit home, get some details of patient’s health history and provide the death certificate in case things go wrong. This was very informative. I was under the impression that if something goes wrong then I can take my mother to St. John Hospital and they will help me with paper formalities. But the Oncologist told about the legal problems. She told that in spite of knowing the whole medical history no doctor can write a death certificate at (most of the big) hospitals if the person is brought dead.

While coming back to home I visited Acura Clinic, which is half a KM from my home. One Doctor there was aware of my Mother’s case. However, he was on leave for next 10 days. I met the other Doctor and told him the history. He assured me of help. I came back to home at 11 AM.

My mother was not well. I was on phone continuously talking to family members on the next steps. Almost around 2, while I was looking at my mom, she became very silent and static. I checked her to the best of my knowledge. She did not show any response. I went to Acura Clinic and brought the Doctor with me to home. He inspected and declared her dead. I went back to the clinic to drop the doctor where he wrote me the Death Certificate. Time was around 3:30 PM.

Right then I called Mr. Satish (Embalming Section at St. John’s Hospital) and Mr. Pinto (Coffin person). I called family members as well. I also informed my Uncle at Jaipur to be ready with arrangements for the next day. Mr. Pinto sent his person (Coffin person). In the mean time I booked the flight tickets for my wife and myself. At around 4:30 PM Coffin person arrived at my home. We moved my mother to their vehicle. I also carried a good red colored Saree, Bangles, Bindi, etc for the grooming and clothing after embalming. We reached the Embalming Section by 5 PM.

The Doctor at Embalming Section inspected the Death Certificate and noticed that Registration number of the Doctor was missing. This was mandatory. He said that they will continue with the process but I should get the seal for the Doctor’s registration number in the mean time. I came back, got the registration number sealed on the Death Certificate and directly went to the Koramangala police station. There I came to know that National Games Village is under Adugodi Police Station. This was not a problem except time wastage. After reaching Adugodi Police station I explained the whole scenario to the clerk there and wrote the application. He was helpful. He wrote the NOC and got it reviewed by me before getting it typed. After that he asked me to wait for the Inspector to arrive for his signature. It was 8 PM by this time.

I was bombarded with phone calls from friends and relative. It was getting hard to prioritize logistics over emotions. Embalming Section was still waiting for Death Certificate. There was no sign of Inspector to come back. I asked a friend to come and wait at the police station for the Police NOC. I went to the St. John’s hospital Embalming Section to hand over the Death Certificate. It was 9:30 PM. My friend reached to St. John Hospital at 11:30 PM with police NOC. He also managed to get the photocopies. Embalming and Coffin sealing was done by that time. I had all the documents by then with 10 sets of photocopies.

The Coffin person took the coffin to the airport directly. I came to home and packed all the necessary things. My wife and I reached Airport at 3 AM. We went to the cargo section when we booked the coffin as cargo. The Coffin person dropped us to the terminal. We boarded the flight at 6 AM and reach Jaipur at 9:30 AM. Extended family was present there. The coffin took around 30 minutes to come out. We took the coffin to the home at Jaipur and things moved ahead as per the directions of the elders in the family and rituals.

What else?

1.       It is good if you have multiple people to do the running around but try to have sign of the same person on all the documents. This person should be closest relative, like son/father/husband, etc.

2.       I know it is tough to do when it comes but stay calm and do not panic. At this time people are helpful and they understand what you are going through. People at Airport, Hospital or Police station, all of them are more than polite. If things get stuck, Mr. Pinto (Coffin person) is your best bet.

3.       Carry all the documents and all the receipts with you all the time and preserve them for later use. Note that this is just the day 1. Later, you need to apply the city municipal corporation (BBMP for Bangalore) for the Government Death Certificate for all the legal and official purpose. All the documents collected now will be used later. One thing to note that the Municipal Death Certificate is issued from the City of Death. This is a global rule. If a person dies at city X and you do the cremation at city Y, the city X Municipal Corporation will provide the Death Certificate. There many more formalities for this. There is a separate form which has to be filled and signed by the same Doctor who wrote the Medical Death Certificate. Municipal Death Certificate is a sensitive document in legal cases. That is why only closest relative can get it. I had to ask my friend at Bangalore to get this for me while I was at Jaipur. He prepared an affidavit saying that in case of any arbitration he would be responsible. 

I have tried to as detailed as possible. Feel free to post comment if any need. I will try my best to help you out.