A child had to use a bag as a toilet in the aisle after a Delta Air Lines plane was diverted and stuck on the tarmac for 6 hours, leaving lavatories overflowing with waste

16.08.2023 - 07:35 / insider.com / Delta Air / Airlines

A child traveling on Delta Air Lines had to use a bag as a toilet in the aisle after the plane was stuck on the tarmac for six hours, according to a report by the local television station WJCL in Savannah, Georgia.

Lizzy Phillips, traveling with her family, told WJCL that her daughter used a bag to relieve herself in the plane's aisle after seeing the lavatories overflowing with water and waste.

Phillips was on a recent Delta flight bound for Atlanta, Georgia, from the Bahamas. Poor weather conditions forced the plane to land in Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport, a domestic airport in Savannah, Georgia, per WJCL.

The plane ended up stuck on the airport's tarmac as the cabin crew needed to be replaced and customs had to process the passengers, per the report.

In a video taken by a passenger and shown in WJCL's report, passengers could be seen waiting inside the plane, with a flight attendant telling them that the situation wasn't "looking too good."

"This was only supposed to be an hour-and-a-half-long flight, so you're not bringing a ton of snacks and food onto the plane," Phillips told WJCL. Eventually, there wasn't any food or water left on the plane, per the report.

Phillips and the other passengers were eventually offloaded from the plane at 10:30 p.m. and brought to the ports to go through customs there, per WJCL. The following day, Phillips learned that they would have to fly on the same plane to Atlanta, which still had overflowing toilets that needed repair, per the report.

Phillips and her family decided to rent a car and drive to Atlanta instead, WJCL reported. The drive from Savannah to Atlanta is about 250 miles and takes around four hours. 

"I can't believe there isn't a protocol for situations like this," Phillips said in the report. She added that she had never heard of this many things going wrong and noted that the experience was "traumatic" for her family.

Delta told WJCL that the flight was "diverted to Savannah due to inclement weather."

"Limited accessibility of airport customs agents resulted in the flight crew not being authorized to allow customers to exit the aircraft for an extended period of time," Delta said in a statement, adding that it "apologizes for the inconvenience to our customers."

Several Delta flights have had similar incidents, with planes grounded on the tarmac for hours. In July, Insider reported that several passengers required medical care after a Delta plane was stuck on the tarmac in triple-digit heat. The flight was bound for Atlanta and was departing from Las Vegas.

Delta and Phillips did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular working hours.