Shocked passengers sit alongside a dead body after passenger dies during flight

The passengers were onboard an Azur Air Boeing 757. Photo / Wikimedia

Shocked airline passengers were forced to sit alongside a dead body after a fellow traveller died mid-air while flying home from a holiday in Turkey.

The 50-year-old woman, who has not been named, is said to have suffered a diabetic seizure just 45 minutes into the Azur Air flight to Moscow from the popular resort of Antalya.

But as her condition deteriorated on board the Boeing 757 aircraft, cabin crew discovered there was little they could do, as she forgot to bring her insulin in the cabin.

It is believed that the woman's husband, who was also unnamed, said she packed the medication in her checked-in luggage because she believed she wouldn't need it.

He added that she had just given herself a shot of the medicine an hour before the flight and that neither of them anticipated that her condition would worsen suddenly.

It is also thought that the woman was also suffering from acute heart failure in the lead up to her death.

Flight attendants then had no option but to lie the victim down in the aisle and cover her over with a blanket after she passed away.

The captain of the flight also decided to fly directly to Moscow instead of making an emergency landing.

The woman is believed to have suffered acute heart failure leading to her death.

The event of a mid-flight death is one of small probability when taking into account the vast number of daily passengers, but major airlines usually have plans in place to deal with such unexpected tragedies.

Some cabin crew are ordered, for example, to move the deceased to empty rows in first or business class sections of the plane, while larger planes are even equipped with a 'corpse cupboard' so flight attendants can keep the body out of sight.

Meanwhile people with diabetes can take insulin with them onto aircraft despite tight new security restrictions.

Passengers are required to show a letter from their doctor explaining they need to carry insulin and/or syringes on board.