Delta Plane Reverses Course After Explosive Diarrhea Incident

An international flight was canceled this weekend after one of the passengers on board experienced gastrointestinal issues so severe the plane's bathrooms began to overflow.

The Flight

Delta Airlines DL194, bound for Barcelona, departed Atlanta, Georgia's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Friday, Sept. 1.  CNN reports 336 passengers were on board the Airbus A350, making for a relatively packed cabin when the plane took off at approximately 8:48 p.m. EST.

The Chaos

At some point after takeoff, a passenger entered one of the cabin bathrooms and experienced a bout with severe diarrhea. The cabin bathroom began to overflow, with sewage seeping into the aisles.

"It's just a biohazard issue," the pilot can be heard telling air traffic control in the audio clip above. "We've had a passenger have diarrhea all the way through the airplane so they want us to come back to Atlanta."

The scene aboard the plane must have been truly horrific, as one social media post indicates the crew on board attempted to mitigate the sewage smell with air freshener.

The Aftermath

DL194 landed at Hartfield-Jackson International Airport just before 11 p.m. EST.

After grounding the flight, Delta quickly went to work cleaning and sanitizing the plane. According to one passenger on board, the crew had to literally remove the carpet from the plane's cabin.

CNN reports the flight finally arrived in Barcelona after 5 p.m. local time on Saturday, Sept. 2.