Plane passenger found dead upon landing with his seatbelt still fastened

The deceased was later identified as Asifullah Ansari after unsuspecting crew members from Air India had tried to wake him but received no response upon landing in Lucknow on Friday

A passenger was discovered dead on a plane after the aircraft landed in Lucknow, India on Friday morning. The man, later identified as Aashif Daulla Ansari, had apparently died mid-air as his seatbelt remained fastened when he was found.

The Air India flight AI2845 landed at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport at 8.10am from Delhi. He was pronounced dead onboard by doctors present on the plane after crew members initially tried to wake him up but failed to get any response. Mr Ansaris’ cause of death remains unknown at the time of writing until a post-mortem can be carried out, reports India Today. Meanwhile, a police investigation into his death has been launched.

In another Air India-related incident on March 5, a flight was Chicago to Delhi forced to turn around midway after at least nine toilets became clogged up. The extreme circumstances led to the plane having to return to the American city after nearly five hours.

The airline confirmed that flight AI126 was forced to return to Chicago O’Hare International Airport due to a technical issue with the aircraft. Despite this setback, all crew members and passengers were able to disembark as planned.

The airline said alternative arrangements were made to transport the passengers to their final destination. The decision to turn back was made after it was discovered that nine out of the 10 bathrooms on the Boeing 777-300 ER jet were backed up, with only one business class restroom operational.

The aircraft altered its course approximately four hours and 25 minutes into the journey, shortly after crossing the coast of Greenland, as reported by the flight tracking website Flightradar24. The flight departed Chicago at 11am but returned around 9pm on the same day, resulting in a ten-hour journey back to the starting point.

Passengers affected by the incident were offered free rescheduling and full refunds for cancellations by the airline. Clogged toilets on airplanes are often caused by passengers flushing unauthorised items.

Due to the limited number of restrooms available, it is not uncommon for a flight crew to make the decision to return if a significant number of restrooms are out of order. An Air India spokesperson said in a statement at the time: “We are aware of some social media posts about the unserviceable lavatories on AI126 operating Chicago to Delhi on 05 March 2025 that caused the flight’s diversion back to its origin, Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

“We would like to confirm that as part of our investigation into the incident, our teams found polythene bags, rags, and clothes that had been flushed down and stuck in the plumbing. This led the lavatories to become unserviceable.

‘Subsequently, eight of the 12 lavatories in the aircraft became unserviceable, causing discomfort to all on board. By this time, the aircraft was overflying the Atlantic, leaving points in Europe as potential cities to divert to.

“However, due to restrictions on night operations at most of the European airports, it was decided to divert back to Chicago. The decision to divert was taken entirely in the interest of passenger comfort and safety.”