Delta Flight Diverts to Detroit After Captain Falls Ill

A Delta Airlines flight traveling from Los Angeles to Boston was forced to make an emergency landing in Detroit after the captain became ill midflight on Tuesday, August 25, according to airline and aviation officials.

The Boeing 757, carrying 147 passengers, diverted to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport after the captain alerted air traffic control that he needed to be hospitalized.

"This is the captain, I’m the one that’s ill," the captain said in an air traffic control recording shared by Flight Simulator Fantasy. "I’m going to taxi the jet to the gate, and then I need to go to the hospital."

Delta and officials from Detroit airport and the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed a crew member experienced a medical emergency, but did not disclose the captain's identity or condition.

The plane landed safely at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport around 5:30 p.m. local time, where firefighters responded to the medical situation. The ill captain was taken to a hospital.

Following the emergency landing, a new flight crew was assigned, and the plane departed Detroit at 7:17 p.m., arriving at Boston's Logan International Airport at 9:04 p.m., approximately 90 minutes behind schedule, according to Delta.

Former military and commercial pilot Matthew "Whiz" Buckley explained that the captain's communication with air traffic control was standard procedure to allow the other pilot to concentrate on flying the aircraft.

"In airliners, if you're not flying, you're the one doing the talking, because that allows, in this case, the first officer, to focus on just flying the airplane," Buckley said. "They did this by the book, right? We talked through this. If any pilot is incapacitated or feeling incapacitated, like, 'Hey man, this is pretty bad,' you need to divert to the nearest suitable airfield."

Delta issued an apology for the travel disruption caused by the incident.

"We apologize to our customers for this disruption in their travels," Delta said in a statement.