‘Diarrhea’ blamed for emergency landing on Delta flight with 281 passengers

Crappy travels.

A transatlantic Delta flight had to be diverted to New York City after a passenger experienced an apparent bout of diarrhea inflight, according to a viral post on X.

The Airbus A330 had been flying from Boston, Massachusetts to Rome, Italy last Friday but turned around over the Atlantic Ocean about an hour into the flight, data from Flightradar24 shows.

The aircraft then reportedly landed at JFK, after which the 281 passengers were transferred to another plane, per Business Insider.

“Delta apologizes to our customers for the delay in their travels from Boston to Rome on Friday night,” airline reps said in a statement. “We thank them for their patience as the aircraft diverted to New York-JFK before continuing to Rome early Saturday morning.” Mdv Edwards – stock.adobe.com
“Delta apologizes to our customers for the delay in their travels from Boston to Rome on Friday night,” airline reps said in a statement. “We thank them for their patience as the aircraft diverted to New York-JFK before continuing to Rome early Saturday morning.” Mdv Edwards – stock.adobe.com
The aircraft (not pictured) returned to service 20 hours after the incident. AFP via Getty Images
The aircraft (not pictured) returned to service 20 hours after the incident. AFP via Getty Images

A Delta spokesperson attributed the diversion to a “customer medical issue en route,” but neglected to specify the nature of the problem.

However, the Twitter account @OnlyInBoston said that the incident involved a “passenger who had severe bouts of diarrhea all over their seat.”

Delta reps have since addressed the airplane “accident,” saying, “Delta apologizes to our customers for the delay in their travels from Boston to Rome on Friday night. We thank them for their patience as the aircraft diverted to New York-JFK before continuing to Rome early Saturday morning.”

The original airplane resumed service about 20 hours after the potentially odiferous ordeal.

This wouldn’t be the first time a Delta flight had to be diverted due to diarrhea.

In the most infamous “brownout” in September, a Delta flight from Atlanta to Barcelona was forced to make a U-turn and an emergency landing after a flyer soiled themself midflight.

“This is a biohazard issue,” the pilot declared to air traffic control. “We’ve had a passenger who’s had diarrhea all the way through the airplane, so they want us to come back to Atlanta.”

Footage taken during the aftermath shows a brown trail running down the length of the airplane aisle with paper towels on most heavily soiled areas in an attempt to obscure the view.