ATLANTA- Delta Air Lines (DL) is facing questions after a Tennessee family alleged that the airline left their father’s unembalmed remains unrefrigerated overnight following a missed connection through Atlanta (ATL).
The remains of Marvin Ed Morgan were transported from West Palm Beach (PBI) to Memphis (MEM), where the family says a late arrival prevented pickup until the following morning.
Delta Human Remains Shipment Raises Memphis Handling Questions
Marvin Ed Morgan, a former announcer at Gleason Raceway in West Tennessee, died after moving to Florida to live with his daughter, Crystal Ladd. His family arranged to return his remains to Tennessee through Eagle Wings Air, a company that coordinates transportation of human remains.
The shipment was booked for June 15 on a Delta itinerary from West Palm Beach (PBI) through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Memphis International Airport (MEM).
According to a report from Action News 5, the first flight arrived at Atlanta around 2:57 p.m. The connecting flight was scheduled to depart at 4:26 p.m. and ultimately pushed back at about 4:55 p.m.
The difference between the scheduled departure and the inbound arrival was less than the two-hour window reportedly applied to the shipment. Using the actual departure time, the difference was only two minutes short of two hours.
Delta subsequently placed the remains on a later flight, according to the account provided by the family, View from the Wing reported.
Memphis Arrival Created an Overnight Handling Problem
The most significant issue arose after the shipment reached Memphis.
The later flight arrived after 8 p.m., while Delta’s published Memphis station instructions state that the facility does not accept inbound human remains after 7 p.m. The same instructions state that there is no overnight holding for human remains.
The station information currently includes the instruction:
NO OVERNITE OR INB HR AFT 19:00
The situation created a difficult logistical problem because the receiving funeral home could not collect the remains until the following morning.
The facility has reportedly been described as unrefrigerated, raising additional questions about how an unembalmed body was handled overnight.
Delta Policy Allows Unembalmed Human Remains
Morgan had not been embalmed because of his spiritual beliefs. According to the report, Delta was aware that the remains were unembalmed.
Delta’s published cargo policy allows the transportation of unembalmed human remains under its specialized-care procedures.
That makes the Memphis handling instructions particularly relevant to the case. If an airline accepts unembalmed remains for transportation, the shipment requires a clear plan for delivery, storage and collection when delays occur.
The issue in this case was not simply that the connecting flight was missed. The subsequent routing resulted in the remains arriving at a destination after the published cutoff for inbound human remains.
Original Itinerary Left Limited Margin
The original itinerary also appears to have provided limited flexibility at Memphis.
The scheduled arrival at Memphis was 4:49 p.m. Delta allows up to two hours after actual domestic arrival for a human-remains shipment to become available for pickup.
Using the scheduled arrival, the two-hour period would have ended at approximately 6:49 p.m., only 11 minutes before the Memphis facility’s stated 7 p.m. closing time for inbound human remains.
The two-hour availability period does not necessarily mean that every shipment takes two hours to become available. However, the narrow margin meant that a relatively small delay could create a delivery problem.
Family Says Remains Could Not Be Viewed
The family says the overnight delay had serious consequences.
By the time the funeral home was able to collect Morgan’s remains the next morning, the family says decomposition had progressed to the point that a final viewing was no longer possible.
Morgan had wanted to return home to Tennessee. His family ultimately buried him beside his wife.
His daughter also arranged another final request by taking his remains to the dragstrip where he had spent much of his life.
Eagle Wings Air reportedly refunded the family’s payment and apologized. Delta expressed condolences and, according to Ladd, was still investigating the circumstances.
Earlier Delta Human Remains Incidents
The case has also drawn attention because Delta has faced other incidents involving human remains.
In April 2017, during a major operational disruption, the remains of Bryant Lee Raburn, who had died after battling leukemia, were supposed to travel from Raleigh to Nashville. Instead, they were reportedly sent to Salt Lake City and delayed for two days.
Raburn’s family spent hours trying to locate the shipment before it eventually reached Nashville shortly before his memorial gathering.
Another case occurred in 2013, when a family reportedly received the wrong person’s casket after remains were transported by Delta from LaGuardia Airport toward Virginia. The funeral director said the remains had been given an incorrect label.
These incidents involve different circumstances and should not be treated as identical to the Memphis case. However, they highlight the importance of accurate labeling, routing, storage and handoff procedures when airlines transport human remains.
What the Memphis Case Highlights
The reported incident raises a specific operational question: how should an airline handle human remains when a delay pushes a shipment beyond the receiving station’s operating window?
The Memphis station’s published instructions prohibit overnight holding and inbound human remains after 7 p.m. That requirement makes the timing of the replacement flight particularly important.
The case also highlights the difference between a shipment meeting an airline’s acceptance requirements at the origin and successfully reaching the receiving facility within its operating hours.
For families transporting human remains, the consequences of a missed connection are fundamentally different from those involving ordinary checked baggage or general cargo. A delay can affect funeral arrangements, religious practices and the family’s ability to say goodbye.
Delta’s investigation will determine the circumstances surrounding Morgan’s shipment and whether the applicable procedures were followed.
Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.
Join us on Telegram Group for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News
