A Delta flight was forced to divert partway through its trip after the pilot reported he was sick and needed to ‘go to the hospital.’
Flight DL437 departed from Los Angeles International Airport at 10.45am on Tuesday bound for Logan International Airport in Boston with 147 people on board.
Most of the flight went smoothly until the Boeing 757 was over Michigan, when it was announced to the passengers that the plane would have to make a diverted landing in Detroit because someone on board was ill.
An Air Traffic Control recording revealed that it was the pilot who was sick.
The recording begins with the pilot radioing in to the tower with an audibly distraught voice.
‘This is the captain. I’m the one that’s ill,’ he could be heard saying. ‘I’m gonna taxi the jet to the gate, and then I need to go to the hospital.’
Air traffic controllers directed the pilot to the quickest route to a gate at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport where he could deboard.
The plane safely landed without incident, and another crew boarded the aircraft to resume the flight and get the passengers to their destination.
Delta Flight DL437 was forced to divert partway through its flight after the pilot reported feeling ill. The plane was a Boeing 757
The flight departed from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 10.45am on Tuesday bound for Logan International Airport in Boston. A Delta plane at LAX is pictured
The flight captain could be heard telling air traffic controllers at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport that he was sick. An Air Traffic Control tower at the airport is pictured
The flight landed in Boston without further incident, just an hour and a half behind schedule.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Delta confirmed that the flight was diverted to Detroit ‘following a crew illness.’
‘We apologize to our customers for this disruption in their travels,’ the statement added.
Delta did not share the name of the pilot or provide any updates about his current condition.
The procedures taken by the plane captain and the diversion to the nearest airport are standard procedure in the case of a medical emergency aboard a flight, according to the pilot school Phoenix East Aviation.
If a pilot falls ill, their co-pilot takes control of the aircraft while the other radios Air Traffic Control to request assistance and a flight diversion.
The plane landed in Detroit, and a new crew boarded to complete the flight. An aerial view of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is pictured
The flight landed at Logan International Airport (pictured) in Boston without further incident and just an hour and a half behind schedule
Former military and commercial pilot Matthew Buckley also told CBS News Boston that the flight captain took all the right steps.
‘In airliners, if you’re not flying, you’re the one doing the talking because that allows, in this case the first officer, to focus on just flying the airplane,’ Buckley told the outlet.
‘They did this by the book. We talked through this. If any pilot is incapacitated or feeling incapacitated like, “Hey man, this is pretty bad,” you need to divert to the nearest suitable airfield,’ Buckley added.
