While most flight diversions occur due to serious threats and disruptive passengers, bathroom incidents also have the potential to sow chaos severe enough to not be able to continue the flight.
In September 2023, a Delta Air Lines (DAL) pilot on a flight to Barcelona had to make an emergency turnaround back to Atlanta over what he described as a “passenger who’s had diarrhea all the way through the airplane.” The trail from the lavatory ultimately seeped under some of the other passengers’ personal items.
Related: United Airlines pilot in hot water over comments about flight attendants
In July 2024, a United Airlines (UAL) flight from Houston to Boston was similarly diverted to Washington-Dulles after a passenger’s illness created a “biohazard” issue that caused several other passengers and crew members to vomit.
“The aircraft is undergoing a thorough deep clean, and we are working to get customers to Boston as soon as possible,” United said in a statement at the time without elaborating on what kind of fluid caused such strong illness amid those who smelled it.
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United Airlines passenger: “I singlehandedly got a flight out of Indianapolis canceled”
The latest incident occurred when traveler Meghan Reinertsen said she experienced “a disturbance deep, deep” inside her stomach on a United flight from Lisbon to Newark. While she made her connecting flight to Indianapolis, the bout of diarrhea returned and was ultimately severe enough to disturb another flight.
The nanny and actress described the incident as “giving birth from the wrong end” in a TikTok video that ended up going viral online. While the plane was able to land in Indianapolis as planned, the pilot on the flight granted Reinertsen permission to stay in the lavatory until the plane landed.
Related: The TikTok luggage video is actually completely wrong
At that point she was escorted out in a wheelchair before the rest of the travelers disembarked and a hazmat team was called in for a deep clean.
As she was exiting, Reinertsen discovered that the ensuing flight the aircraft was scheduled to take had been canceled for the deep clean.
“I singlehandedly got a flight out of Indianapolis canceled,” Reinertsen shared in a TikTok video that received nearly 21 million upvotes. “If that flight cancelation changed the trajectory of your life in a really negative way, I’m so sorry.”
“I am a biohazard, I am patient zero”: traveler on United Airlines flight
After making it to the hotel and experiencing similar bouts of illness, Reinertsen sought medical help and discovered that she had contracted food poisoning from a hamburger eaten shortly before the flight (the risk of illness was why United treated the plane bathroom as a biohazard with potential for contagion).
“I am a biohazard,” Reinertsen joked in the video. “I am patient zero.”
Reinertsen’s decision not to shy away from sharing her shame online, vivid descriptions of the incident, and apologetic tone ultimately earned her the sympathy of millions who watched her TikTok video.
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“You poor thing,” one woman wrote in one of the most upvoted comments under Reinertsen’s video. “That sounds like norovirus and I barely survived it in my house, let alone an AIRPLANE BATHROOM.”
The viral moment earned Reinertsen over 90,000 new followers, while United Airlines has not offered a statement on the incident.
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