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A United Airlines flight from Houston to Boston had to be diverted to Washington, D.C. on Sunday because of what a pilot described as a “biohazard.”
“It sounds like it’s quite bad back there. It’s still really bad,” a pilot told an air traffic controller, according to a recording publicized by the flight-tracking website RadarBox and posted to the X social media platform. “The crew is vomiting, and passengers all around are asking for masks.” The pilot asked to have the plane land early rather than power through to its destination.
In a statement shared with Quartz, United said that the flight had been diverted to Washington Dulles International Airport “after a customer experienced a medical issue.” Neither the audio recording nor the airline made clear exactly what kicked off the stomach-spilling incident.
Despite the worrying radio chatter, the carrier said that no crew or passengers required medical attention when the plane landed. United did clarify that it gave the plane a thorough scrubbing before putting it back in service.
“We deep cleaned the aircraft and it departed for Boston later that afternoon,” the company said.