A Delta Airlines plane en route from Atlanta to Barcelona was forced to turn around and make an emergency landing when one of its passengers had the runs.
The situation arose two hours into the transatlantic flight from Georgia to Spain on Sep. 1, when air traffic control received a message from the pilot alerting them to a "biohazard" on board.
Biohazard
"We've had a passenger who's had diarrhoea all the way through the airplane," informed the pilot in an audio recording via LiveATC.net.
A Delta Airlines Airbus A350 turned around back to Atlanta Friday night because of diarrhea throughout the airplane from a passenger and it’s a biohazard. 👀🥴
The FAA flight strip for DL194 was posted to Reddit (📷xStang05x) Also a passenger posted here asking why her son’s… pic.twitter.com/VWbkB47wF1
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) September 3, 2023
A Federal Aviation Authority flight strip supposedly posted on Reddit confirmed this report.
"Passenger diarrhoea all over aircraft," it read.
Image via Twitter
Comments by people who claimed to be on the same flight described the entire episode in surreal terms. Apparently, the diarrhoea was so extensive that it "dribbled down" the plane aisle.
After being diverted back to Atlanta, the passengers and crew were transferred onto another plane and reached their original destination in Spain at 5:10pm the next day, eight hours behind schedule, according to Flightradar24.
It wasn't clear whether the passenger with distressed bowels had made it onboard the new flight.
A TikTok user who claimed she was on the affected aircraft posted a video showing the evacuated plane with what appeared to be absorbent towels lining the aisle.
She described the incident as "traumatic", adding that "things were not okay".
@maceycharboneau @Barstool Sports @New York Post | News ♬ original sound - maceycharboneau
Clean up
Delta officials confirmed that the aircraft had faced a “medical issue” and had to be redirected to Atlanta to be cleaned, reported Insider.
Upon its landing in Atlanta, the aircraft was scrubbed down.
“Our teams worked as quickly and safely as possible to thoroughly clean the airplane and get our customers to their final destination. We sincerely apologise to our customers for the delay and inconvenience to their travel plans," a spokesperson for Delta said.
Flight records show that the aircraft has since been used for another flight.
Top images via @maceycharboneau/TikTok