If you hear this secret code on a plane this is what it means

On average, around 8 million people fly every day.

On a plane, not of their own accord - we don't have data for that.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that 4 billion travellers will fly in 2017, alongside 55.7 million tonnes of cargo.

You may not have dwelled on the thought, but some of those cargo, or travellers, will be dead people.

The Sun reports that Sara Marsden, Editor in Chief for US Funerals Online, says that American airlines has a dedicated help desk for funeral homes called the "American Airlines Jim Wilson Service".

The name comes from the crates used to transport the bodies - Jim Wilson Trays are used as the shipping container for human remains, and are packed with ice to preserve them.

As such, Airlines use these as code for a deceased passenger, so as to not alarm other passengers.

Around 50,000 dead people are flown every year, mostly due to people dying abroad. They are accompanied by a burial transit permit or a health officer's certificate.

Dead people have places to get to, too.

HT Sun

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