Plane makes emergency landing due to passenger’s diarrhea: 'This is a biohazard’

04 September 2023 , 23:46

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Flight DL194 from Atlanta to Barcelona was reportedly around two hours into the journey when it turned back (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A flight bound for Barcelona was forced to return to the U.S. when a flyer reportedly suffered diarrhoea 'all through the plane'.

The Delta flight from Atlanta made decision to return after a passenger soiled themselves, with audio recording claiming there was a "medical issue" onboard. Flight DL194 from Atlanta to Barcelona was reportedly around two hours into the journey when it turned back.

In an audio transmission from the flight deck posted on X by an aviation enthusiast, the pilot said, “This is a biohazard issue. We’ve had a passenger who’s had diarrhoea all the way through the airplane, so they want us to come back to Atlanta.”

The recording was posted to a reddit thread, with many social media users quick to voice their thoughts. One wrote: "Diarrhoea with or without Ebola is a biohazard. In 20 years as a medic I’ve only had 1 of many thousands of cases that were Ebola. Odds are it’s not Ebola."

Twitter user John Hurdt, who claimed to be onboard, wrote: "Both my wife and I were on the flight. It was a mess. The pilots made the right decision to turn around. The ground crew ripped out the carpet and put new in. Considering the circumstances, the ground crew did a great job, along the attendants and the pilots."

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A transcript showed the pilots citing a "medical issue" which could be biohazard

Last month, an American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after undergoing complete hydraulic failure Monday morning. American Airlines flight 1632 took off from the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 7:16 a.m. local time, headed for Boston. Less than an hour later, it made a U-turn and soared back toward LAX, having only made it as far as the Mojave Desert. Mid-flight, the plane underwent complete hydraulic failure, according to flightradar24.com, a live flight tracking website.

The pilots had to burn fuel to ensure the craft was light enough to land, according to Scanner Pacific, a Twitter account that monitors the LA police and fire scanners. The plane arrived back to LAX at around 8:30 a.m. and landed safely, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department — with the gear and flaps deployed.

The diversion of DL194 from Atlanta to Barcelona

All emergency personnel who were dispatched to the scene were released, the LAFD said. In June 3, a Trans-Atlantic Delta flight was forced to land on a remote island off the coast of Canada when an unruly passenger broke free of his restraints. The flight had left from Paris' Charles De Gaulle Airport at 10:30 a.m. local time and was bound for Detroit.

Along the way, the passenger had reportedly been acting violently and "wouldn't calm down," passenger Dena Haddad told WXYZ Detroit. Several heroic passengers pinned the man down. After the flight landed in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Royal Canadian Mounted police took the man into custody.

Abigail O'Leary