A Delta Air Lines captain who fell ill midflight was forced to divert a Boston-bound plane to Michigan on Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The incident occurred aboard flight No. 437, which had departed from Los Angeles International Airport roughly four hours earlier. The Boeing 757 was originally scheduled to land at Boston Logan International Airport about five hours after takeoff.
Instead, at around 5:45 p.m. local time, the captain radioed air traffic control with a startling announcement. “This is the captain. I am the one who is ill. Um, I am going to taxi the jet to the gate and then I need to go to the hospital,” he said, according to recordings obtained by CBS News and ATC.com. The plane touched down safely at Detroit Metropolitan Airport shortly afterward.
Passengers waited while the captain received medical attention. The flight eventually resumed its journey and landed in Boston just before 9 p.m. ET, nearly two hours behind schedule, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. Delta Air Lines confirmed the “crew illness” in a statement to USA TODAY on Thursday, Aug. 27. “The crew followed normal procedures when alerting air traffic controllers about the issue,” the carrier said. “We apologize to our customers for this disruption in their travels.”
Aviation experts note that such emergencies, while alarming to passengers, are well within the capabilities of modern flight crews. Rock Saddy, a pilot and liaison for private jet charter company Cirrus Aviation Services, told Travel + Leisure last year that commercial flights always carry at least two trained pilots on the flight deck. Longer flights may even include a relief pilot. “If a pilot becomes sick or incapacitated in flight, the other pilot is fully qualified to take over and safely operate the aircraft,” Saddy said.
Federal regulations also require pilots of commercial planes carrying more than six passengers to hold medical certificates issued by official aviation medical examiners. These certificates prove that pilots are physically and mentally healthy enough to fly. They must be renewed every 6 to 12 months, depending on the pilot’s age. Flight attendants receive training to handle medical emergencies, and some airlines provide around-the-clock access to MedLink and similar programs that connect crews with emergency room doctors by phone, satellite, or radio.
