Q: Direct Burial at Sea by Aircraft

RJM62

RJM62

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Question: Is there any legal way to directly bury an uncremated body at sea by dropping it from an aircraft into the ocean while in flight?

I'm in the process of preparing my will. Not that I'm dying (or not that I know of, anyway). It's just routine. The only difficult part of the process is the burial arrangement, as I've pretty much decided everything else already.

Ideally, what I would like is for my body to be dropped from an airplane into the ocean. One of my friends actually would be willing to sit my corpse in his biplane (sans seatbelt), fly to a suitable location over the ocean, invert, and (if necessary) do some abrupt maneuvers to shake me loose; but he's not sure of the legalities.

I have learned that direct burial at sea is legal in and of itself, although there are various regulations that must be followed. What I haven't yet found an answer to is the dropping from an airplane part. The regs all seem to assume that a sea captain will be doing the honors.

Thanks,

Rich
 
I suspect that nobody can stop you if you go outside the 12-mile limit and make sure you don't hit any boats, unless the corpse doesn't sink and they get you for creating a hazard to navigation.
 
have him stick a grenade down yer gullet with a line running to the bipe - so when you get just so far out of the plane, the pin gets pulled - a few seconds later... BOOM!

Voila! No hazard to navigation! :no:
 
or make sure you have negative buoyancy. Cinder blocks, lead, etc...
 
And your testimony to the jury, sir, is that you pushed her out because she "looked pretty dead to you?"
 
etsisk said:
have him stick a grenade down yer gullet with a line running to the bipe - so when you get just so far out of the plane, the pin gets pulled - a few seconds later... BOOM!

Voila! No hazard to navigation! :no:
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Elegant. But I hope the line doesn't get caught around something when the corpse is on the way out or he might explode a little too close for comfort and make a mess on the airplane. Maybe an altitude-sensing device? Of course, if he got stuck and you had to then descend with him still aboard...Maybe remote control?

Seagulls would love the idea.

Dan
 
EdFred said:
or make sure you have negative buoyancy. Cinder blocks, lead, etc...
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Yeah lead, that's it. Of course then you get the environmentalists coming down on you. Better idea is to be interred beneath a runway that's being built! :yes:
 
gprellwitz said:
Yeah lead, that's it. Of course then you get the environmentalists coming down on you. Better idea is to be interred beneath a runway that's being built! :yes:
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And we can call it " Jimmie Hoffa International Airport.:nono::nonod::rofl:
 
No idea on the laws, but I do like your idea. Returning to the earth, and all, the cycle continues.
 
gprellwitz said:
Yeah lead, that's it. Of course then you get the environmentalists coming down on you. Better idea is to be interred beneath a runway that's being built! :yes:
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Lead comes out of the ground doesn't it??
 
Ted DuPuis said:
No idea on the laws, but I do like your idea. Returning to the earth, and all, the cycle continues.
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Yes, something along those lines. Tom's grenade idea might add excitement and facilitate the whole cycle, but it would endanger the pilot, as has been pointed out.

From my own research so far, I can't find any specific law against dropping a body into the ocean from an airplane, provided various regulations about sea depth and so forth are followed. The problems seem to be more along the lines of red tape.

An uncremated corpse apparently has to be released to a person authorized to inter bodies. These people typically include clergymen, funeral directors, cemetery operators, and sea captains - but not aviators. The person who officiates at the interment must sign a certificate of interment and return a copy to the health department. (None of this applies to cremated remains, which is why any aviator can disperse ashes.)

So I suspect that a body could be released to a clergyman or other authorized interrer of bodies, who could then ride along during the flight (in another airplane, if necessary), supervise the interment, and sign the paperwork, thus satisfying all documentation requirements. The pilot's sole responsibility would then be to navigate to a suitable location and execute whatever maneuvers are required to make the drop.

Grant's idea about being interred under a runway is also interesting, but I suspect that honor would be reserved for more accomplished decedents.

-Rich
 
define "sea captain"

Is there a license for that?
 
RJM62 said:
An uncremated corpse apparently has to be released to a person authorized to inter bodies. These people typically include clergymen, funeral directors, cemetery operators, and sea captains - but not aviators. The person who officiates at the interment must sign a certificate of interment and return a copy to the health department. (None of this applies to cremated remains, which is why any aviator can disperse ashes.)

So I suspect that a body could be released to a clergyman or other authorized interrer of bodies, who could then ride along during the flight (in another airplane, if necessary), supervise the interment, and sign the paperwork, thus satisfying all documentation requirements. The pilot's sole responsibility would then be to navigate to a suitable location and execute whatever maneuvers are required to make the drop.
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There used to be a group called the Flying Funeral Directors - maybe they're still around and could help out.


Trapper John
 
Heck Henning is a Sea Captain, and I bet he'd be more than willing to participate in such an "adventure". :D
 
SkyHog said:
define "sea captain"

Is there a license for that?
Click to expand...

When I was in the USCG we were taught to address anyone in command of anything that floated as "captain" or "skipper." So technically, no.

I think the burial laws probably mean a "Master Seaman," for which there is a license (actually, a number of different licenses based on tonnage and so forth).

I suppose it's no different than referring to the PIC of an airliner as "Captain," even though no FAA certificate for "Captain" exists.

Rich
 
I've flown dead bodies around, too, but I've never tossed one out the door in flight.

In any event, I'm getting the impression that it's not so much a matter of the actual tossing of the body into the ocean, but one of having taken custody of the body and not being able to properly and legally account for its disposal. Kinda like when I signed for a "shape" for a test drop in 1974. This is a nuclear weapon minus the explosive and nuclear material, with a data recorder in their place. You drop it, then they pick it up and check to make sure all the sensors sensed and timers timed and fuses fused (and that you dropped it accurately). Since it's got real nuclear weapons technology in it, it's secured pretty much like a live weapon. We took custody of it aboard ship, and dropped it on a bombing range ashore. Needless to say, the range officer didn't hold up a receipt for us to snag on the tailhook as we flew by. I was left having signed for a device requiring chain-of-custody, but no longer able to account for it. I wrote on my copy of the receipt "Delivered on XYZ bombing range xxxx hours ss/ss/ssss date" and kept that receipt for like 30 years, in fear that someday someone from the US Navy or Department of Energy would come knocking on my door and ask, "About that weapon you signed for in 1974 -- there's no record of it after you signed for it. Can you provide proof of its transfer of custody to an authorized recipient?"
 
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Do you guy's remember our bottle rocket subject awhile back?
Well ,super glue and bottle rockets,yeah thousands of bottle rockets.

No, really a parachute jump plane would be the safest, we sell lead alloy to put in the corpses pocket, also for you greenies new lead free.
 
Ron Levy said:
I've flown dead bodies around, too, but I've never tossed one out the door in flight.

In any event, I'm getting the impression that it's not so much a matter of the actual tossing of the body into the ocean, but one of having taken custody of the body and not being able to properly and legally account for its disposal.

-- snip --
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That's basically the impression I'm getting, as well.

Rich
 
Sorry, no corpses in my aircraft no matter what.

O.K., now time for the funny dead guy story, and true. My father-in-law donated his body to the University of California. The next year his niece got a frantic and fearful call from her undergraduate daughter from anatomy class at UCSB, saying "mom, I think I just dissected Uncle George!". Turns out they were working on someone obviously old and Jewish, and yes they all look alike to a degree. We had people thinking George was Leonard Nimoy. Anyhow, by hook and crook her mother was able to figure out that no, it was not her uncle, and we did learn the final disposition of my father-in-law.

Back to your regularly scheduled discussion.
 
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