A United Airlines flight was forced to divert while it was in the air due to an onboard “biohazard” issue that affected the crew and left passengers in distress.
Flight UA2477 took off from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) at 9:39 local time on July 28, 2024, and was headed to Boston when it had to divert and land at Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD). As per FlightAware data, the aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, touched down in Washington at 13:36 local time.
The incident was reportedly started by one of the passengers but soon began to impact other people on board. It seems the situation was so serious that it caused crew members and passengers to become sick and vomit.
A recording of the conversation between a pilot and an air traffic controller was shared on X (formerly Twitter). The pilot can be heard saying that the situation onboard was “quite bad.”
“The crew is vomiting and the passengers all around are asking for masks, etc. Especially with this kind of being a biohazard, I think we need to get the plane on the ground ASAP,” the pilot said to ATC.
Upon landing, the aircraft received a deep cleaning service. None of the 155 passengers and six crew members required medical help.
FlightAware shows that the Boeing 737-800 departed from Dallas Airport at 05:17 local time and arrived at its initial Boston destination at 07:55 local time.