Body Transport

Back when I was a line guy in the 80’s, most of the bodies I saw come through were in a Cherokee Six, but I remember one coming in in a 172. They were always in a bag, never a casket. The most bizarre one was one where either the pilot insisted that he needed his body bag back, or the funeral home picking him up wanted him in their bag, but they transferred him right out on the ramp. I can still see his gray hair blowing in the wind.
 
Working at my dad’s airport back in the 50’s I pumped gas after school. One day after climbing down from the ladder and I forget what kind of airplane it was, I just happened to look in the back and sticking out from under a sheet was a foot, with a tag tied to the big toe. Not anything I expected to see that day.
 
Is that such a grave error? Seems like people make posts like that every day here on DOA.
 
Dave Theisen said:
Back when I was a line guy in the 80’s, most of the bodies I saw come through were in a Cherokee Six, but I remember one coming in in a 172. They were always in a bag, never a casket. The most bizarre one was one where either the pilot insisted that he needed his body bag back, or the funeral home picking him up wanted him in their bag, but they transferred him right out on the ramp. I can still see his gray hair blowing in the wind.
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The funeral director who had me haul a few bodies in his Cherokee Six years ago told me to find the darkest, most remote corner of the airport to transfer the bodies to/from the airplane, because if it was done within sight of anyone, there’s probably be someone who thought Aunt Edna’s body was being mistreated.
 
You've got the spirit for the undertaking. Good luck. Hopefully your efforts will be eulogized.
 
There used to be an interest group called 'the flying funeral directors'. This was common at one point. If the FD owned the plane and flew himself, it was 'incidental to the business' and didn't require a part 135. With the consolidation in the burial industry, those types of mom&pop operations are less common.

As a business hauling freight for others, I doubt there is enough of a market. You are competing with any 21 year old with a blacked out minivan and a DOT number who can do this at 1/3 the price of flying a Caravan. There isn't much of a rush. They are dead. 2 hrs in a Cessna Caravan vs. 6 hrs in a Dodge Caravan rarely makes a difference.
 
I am spooked by some of these comments.
 
Shawn said:
Just outta morbid curiosity...is there an actual market for that to support a business? I know most of the major airlines that do cargo also transport human remains on the regular so how do you compete giant the big boys that are already established?
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A few years ago I was reading an article about the Daytona Beach airport. One of their highest cargo volumes was caskets being flown back North for burial in their hometowns.
 
JOhnH said:
A few years ago I was reading an article about the Daytona Beach airport. One of their highest cargo volumes was caskets being flown back North for burial in their hometowns.
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Pretty much the only way to fly on a commercial airliner and have sufficient legroom.
 
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