‘I think maybe a new pair of pants’: Pilot turns plane around after passenger gets drenched in unexpected fluids

A Delta Air Lines flight departing New York’s LaGuardia Airport was forced to return to the gate after a passenger was drenched by leaking deicing fluid during pre-departure preparations. The incident occurred on Delta flight 1307, an Airbus A220-100 scheduled to fly to Jacksonville, Florida. The aircraft had just completed its routine deicing process when fluid began leaking into the cabin.

According to air traffic control recordings, the flight crew quickly alerted controllers and requested permission to return to the terminal. “We had a bunch of deicing fluid leak inside the aircraft and soak a passenger,” People quotes the pilot.

The leak reportedly occurred near the wing area, where deicing fluid seeped through the aircraft’s exterior and entered the cabin, striking a passenger seated nearby. The unexpected situation prompted safety checks and cleanup procedures, resulting in a delay of approximately three hours before the aircraft was able to depart for Florida. No serious injuries were reported, but the incident caused significant disruption for passengers on board.

Deicing fluid is essential but rarely causes cabin leaks

Deicing fluid is important for safe winter flying. Airports use a mix of warm water and propylene glycol to remove frost or ice from planes. Even a thin layer of ice or snow can mess up how air flows over the wings, which are designed to create lift.

When the air traffic controller asked if medical help was needed for the soaked passenger, the pilot joked, “Yeah, I think maybe a new pair of pants.” But the pilot had a serious concern about the plane’s structure. “We’re not used to that coming into the fuselage like that so we want to have maintenance take a look at it, make sure that we don’t have a leak,” he explained.

A Delta spokesperson later confirmed that only a small amount of fluid landed on the customer’s clothes. The airline said leaks of this type are “very rare” and the chemicals are “non-hazardous” to people onboard. While flight delays can happen for many reasons, including when passengers must deplane unexpectedly, this particular incident was unusual. While the fluid is generally safe, the Center for Disease Control notes that repeated exposure to propylene glycol can sometimes cause skin irritation.

Delta swapped out the aircraft entirely as a safety measure. The passenger decided to continue traveling with the airline despite the chemical shower. Pilots are trained to handle various in-flight situations, from identifying the roughest turbulence zones to managing unexpected mechanical issues. Flight 1307 finally departed LaGuardia at 5:22 PM local time and landed in Florida at 7:45 PM.