Rubio Tells Story About Thinking He Found Dead Body On Air Force One

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revealed how an unusually deep sleeper aboard Air Force One left him wondering for approximately 90 minutes whether he was looking at a dead body.

Rubio said the strange episode occurred during a flight back to the United States from China. An unidentified passenger remained so motionless and unresponsive that the secretary could not determine whether the person was still breathing.

“And for a significant period of this flight, it was debatable whether this person had passed away or not,” Rubio said during an Aug. 11 appearance on “The Katie Miller Podcast.”

Rubio Could Not Detect Breathing

Rubio, who appeared on the podcast with his wife, Jeanette, said the passenger was lying on a couch inside one of Air Force One’s conference rooms.

“I couldn’t see chest movement,” Rubio recalled.

“I couldn’t establish a consistent breathing pattern in the individual,” he continued.

Rubio found himself caught between two uncomfortable possibilities.

“But I also didn’t want to wake them up on the one hand, or discover a dead body on the other,” he said.

Waking someone who was merely exhausted would have created an awkward situation. Ignoring a genuine medical emergency, however, would have been far worse.

“Cause it’s embarrassing if you wake them up [and they say], ‘Oh, I was just sleeping,’” Rubio explained.

“But if they were dead, like what do you do?” he asked.

“You have a dead body on the plane.”

“I don’t know what the protocol for it is,” Rubio admitted.

Passenger Slept Through Lights and Noise

The mystery deepened because the passenger did not react to any of the activity taking place inside the aircraft.

The lights remained on, and the cabin became noisy at various points during the flight. None of it appeared to disturb the person.

“This person was not responding to any of the stimulus,” Rubio said.

“You could see every now and then that there was like, maybe a breath, but I don’t know how you sustain life at that pace of respiration,” he added.

Jeanette asked whether he continued watching the passenger.

Rubio confirmed that he did, partly because he wanted to ensure he could establish his own whereabouts if the person actually turned out to be dead.

He wanted to be able to “account for where I was,” Rubio said.

“You know, then there’s going to be an investigation.”

Fortunately, the passenger was alive and had apparently been sleeping exceptionally deeply.

“But luckily it all worked out,” Rubio said.

Identity Remains a Mystery

Rubio did not disclose the passenger’s identity.

That leaves unanswered who managed to sleep through the lights, noise and activity aboard the presidential aircraft while one of the nation’s most senior officials spent an hour and a half wondering whether to check for a pulse.

No emergency intervention was ultimately necessary, and the unusual episode ended without incident.

The story nevertheless offered a rare glimpse into the awkward situations that can unfold during the long international flights undertaken by the president and his senior advisers.

Rubio Sleeps Like a ‘Mummy’ on Air Force One

Rubio is also known to sleep aboard Air Force One, although he takes precautions to avoid being noticed.

He told New York Magazine in January that he sometimes uses one of two couches inside an office on the aircraft.

“But what I do is I cocoon myself in a blanket,” Rubio said.

“I cover my head,” he continued.

“I look like a mummy,” he joked.

Rubio said his unusual sleeping arrangement is partly inspired by President Donald Trump’s tendency to walk through the aircraft during long flights.

“I know that at some point on the flight, he’s going to emerge from the cabin and start prowling the hallways to see who is awake,” Rubio said.

Covering himself completely apparently gives the secretary a better chance of getting uninterrupted rest while Trump checks which aides are still working.

During the flight from China, however, another passenger managed to sleep through practically everything without needing Rubio’s mummy disguise.

The performance was convincing enough to leave the secretary of state quietly debating what to do with what he feared might be a dead body aboard Air Force One.