ATLANTA (NewsNation) — An international Delta Air Lines flight, flying from Atlanta to Barcelona, Spain, was forced to turn around two hours into its journey following a “biohazard issue” on board Friday.
A pilot told passengers they had to return to Atlanta for a “biohazard issue.” In an alleged audio clip from the flight deck, posted to X by an aviation enthusiast, the pilot said there was “diarrhea all the way through the plane.” The audio clip was recorded from LiveATC.com, the enthusiast said.
The plane was two hours into the eight-hour flight when it had to make a U-turn, according to data from Flighttrader24.
Delta told Insider that the plane returned to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia because a passenger had a “medical issue” on board and the plane needed to be cleaned.
“Our teams worked as quickly and safely as possible to thoroughly clean the airplane and get our customers to their final destination. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the delay and inconvenience to their travel plans,” the airline’s representative told Insider.
The identity of the passenger remains unknown, but the rest of the flyers and crew were able to take another flight the next day.