United Crew Vomit, Passengers Demand Masks: Passenger’s “Biohazard” Forces Emergency Landing

United Airlines flight 2477 from Houston to Boston diverted to Washington Dulles after a passenger on board created a “biohazard” that the airline is simply referring to as a “medical issue.”

The Boeing 737-800 departed at 9:39 a.m. and landed at the D.C. area airport around 1:36 p.m. with 155 passengers and six crewmembers on board in what the airline’s website described as “an urgent customer situation.”

According to a United spokesperson,

The aircraft is currently undergoing a deep clean and we are working to get customers on their way to Boston soon.

So what exactly happened? Everything we know we learn from communications between the plane and air traffic control.

  • It was something so bad that “with this kind of being a biohazard, I think we need to get this plane on the ground ASAP” according to a doctor on board.

  • “The crew is vomiting and passengers all around are asking for masks…I talked to the crew and it sounds like it’s quite bad back there.”

  • Nonetheless, medical assistance wasn’t required on arrival.

Biohazards have been a common theme recently given Delta getting passengers sick from moldy chicken and several diarrhea flights.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Biohazard could be a service animal, like a RAT – which would have scared a lot of folks into puking. It could also be a dog with allergies associated with same.

    It probably was NOT airplane food, even thou the jokes concerning that cuisine abound continuously. “Oi vey,” as the pilot said. “It’s always something.”

  2. All bodily fluid are considered biohazards today. Just a bizarre redefining of a word.

  3. The emergency landing due to a passenger’s biohazard was alarming. The crew vomit and passengers’ mask demands made the situation even more chaotic. A distressing and disruptive experience.

  4. “You’d better tell the Captain we’ve got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.”
    “A hospital? What is it?”
    “It’s a big building with patients, but that’s not important right now.”
    “Captain, when can we land?”
    “I can’t tell.”
    “You can tell me, I’m a doctor.”

    “Airplane” and “Animal House”. Two of the funniest movies I’ve seen. Being in the airline business, we sometimes hear “Airplane” quotes all the time!

  5. But????— What would cause the crew to vomit?

    Odor from some sort of effluent? Gas Passing from the Chipotle burrito stop in the terminal?
    Tim Dunn’s posts about Delta? The AA flight attendant deal?

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