'I was on the Delta Airlines diarrhoea U-turn plane and it was horrible'

07 September 2023 , 06:12

609     0

The pilot made the decision to turn the plane around and fly back to Atlanta claiming there was a "medical issue" onboard (Image: UIG via Getty Images)

A passenger on the Delta Airlines plane forced to return to a U.S airport has dubbed the experience as "horrible".

The Delta flight was just two hours into its journey from Atlanta, US, to Barcelona, Spain, when the pdecidedision to turn the plane around and fly back to Atlanta claiming there was a "medical issue" onboard.

In an audio transmission from the flight deck posted on X (formerly ) by an aviation enthusiast, the pilot of Flight DL194 said: “This is a biohazard issue. We’ve had a passenger who’s had diarrhoea all the way through the aeroplane, so they want us to come back to Atlanta.”

One passenger onboard told of the experience which saw her trapped on the flight on its way to Atlanta airport. Commenting under news of the fiasco on X, Dee W said: "My partner was on that flight! It was pretty bad. It was dribbled down the aisle, smelled horrible. The vanilla scented disinfectant used on it only made it smell like vanilla s***. After the plane landed, it was thoroughly cleaned. They didn’t leave until around 2.30am"

Nightmare scenes showed the soiled aisle carpet (Twitter/DramaAlert)

Responding to questions about the incident, Dee W said: "The flight was met by emergency vehicles and EMTs carried the sick passenger off the plane. My partner said the plane was cleaner when they got back on at 2am than it was the first time they got on. No smell either."

'Renaissance' 2023 World Tour: Here’s how to get presale Beyoncé tickets today

Explaining what happened when the flight landed in Atlanta after turning back, Dee wrote: "It was bad enough that the flight was met by emergency vehicles and the poor passenger was carried out by EMTs."

Another passenger who was on the Airbus A350 aircraft to Barcelona with his wife, said it was a 'mess' and that a whole new carpet had to be put in, which ended up being a five-hour cleaning operation. The X user, John Hurdt, wrote: "Both my wife and I were on the flight. It was a mess.

Pilots claimed there was a potential biohazard onboard due to the medical incident (Twitter/DramaAlert)

"The pilots made the right decision to turn around. The ground crew ripped out the carpet and put new [one] in." He also praised the staff involved that dealt with the chaos, adding "Considering the circumstances, the ground crew did a great job, along the attendants and the pilots.".

A spokesperson for the airline told Insider: "Delta flight 194 from Atlanta to Barcelona returned to Atlanta following an onboard medical issue.

"Our teams worked as quickly and safely as possible to thoroughly clean the aeroplane and get our customers to their final destination. We sincerely apologise to our customers for the delay and inconvenience to their travel plans."

Abigail O'Leary