‘This is a biohazard issue’: Delta flight forced to turn back due to passenger’s diarrhea

A trans-Atlantic Delta flight was forced to abandon its journey when a passenger created a “biohazard” due to a terrible bout of diarrhea, according to the pilot.

Delta flight DL194 had departed Georgia on Friday, September 1, on its way to Barcelona, and was over Virginia when the pilot decided to turn around, according to the Daily Mail.

The pilot explained why in a text message to Air Traffic Control: “Divert to ATL — passenger diarrhea all over aircraft — biohazard.”

An aviation enthusiast shared online an audio transmission between the pilots and air-traffic control.

“This is a biohazard issue,” a pilot can be heard saying. “We’ve had a passenger who’s had diarrhea all the way through the airplane, so they want us to come back to Atlanta.”

A social media user responded to the tweet above to say their partner was on the flight and shared the initial remedy that apparently had little effect in masking the odor.

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“My partner was on that flight! It was pretty bad. It was dribbled down the aisle, smelled horrible,” the person said. “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 2:30 am.”

Another social media user said he was on the flight and explained that once they returned to Atlanta, Delta “ripped out the carpet” and replaced it with new carpet.

“Both my wife and I were on the flight. It was a mess,” he tweeted. “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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Social media users couldn’t help themselves, responding with hilarity to a situation that was certainly not funny to those onboard.

Here’s a quick sampling of those responses, as seen on X:

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Tom Tillison

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