United Airlines said the Boeing 737 was deep-cleaned after diverting. It eventually landed at its destination several hours later.
AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
A United Airlines flight diverted and was deep-cleaned after a passenger's "medical issue" led to passengers vomiting, according to a recording of a pilot speaking to air-traffic controllers.
The Boeing 737 was flying from Houston to Boston on Sunday but diverted to Washington Dulles Airport about two hours into the journey, per Flightradar24.
In an air traffic control recording posted by flight tracking site RadarBox on X, a pilot says, "The crew is vomiting and passengers all around are asking for masks."
"Especially with this kind of being a biohazard, I think we need to probably get this plane on the ground ASAP," he added.
The travel news site Live and Let's Fly reported that a passenger's burst colostomy bag caused the diversion.
According to United, there were 155 passengers and six crew members on board. Nobody needed medical assistance on arrival.
"United flight UA2477 (Houston—Boston) diverted to Washington-Dulles after a customer experienced a medical issue," the airline said in a statement shared with Business Insider. "We deep-cleaned the aircraft and it departed for Boston later that afternoon."
United did not comment further on the specifics of the incident.
Diversions can displace pilots and aircraft, creating a snowball effect throughout an airline's network.
Data from Flightradar24 shows the United 737 continued to Boston about six hours after landing in Washington, DC. Passengers on the plane's next flight back to Houston were delayed nearly five hours.
A similar incident happened last September when a Delta Air Lines plane U-turned after a passenger had diarrhea in the cabin.
Last month, another United plane was deep-cleaned and taken out of service after dozens of passengers fell ill with symptoms including vomiting.
