A Delta Airlines flight headed to China had to make an unexpected detour, traveling 2,000 miles to land in Los Angeles after one of its pilots fell ill. This added around eight hours to the travel time for passengers.
Flight 389 took off from Detroit around 10:30 AM on Saturday, with plans to reach Shanghai about 16 hours later.
However, just five hours into the flight, while the aircraft was positioned south of Alaska, the pilot’s health issue necessitated a diversion to Los Angeles, three hours south and west of its original path.
Though Los Angeles wasn’t the nearest airport, its status as a major Delta hub facilitated a quicker crew swap for the ailing pilot, according to the airline.
Tracking data from FlightAware revealed that the plane remained at LAX for over three hours while arrangements were made to continue to China.
After the delay, the flight departed again for a 13-hour journey to Shanghai around 7 PM.
Passengers typically spend upwards of 24 hours on a trip like this, factoring in both flight duration and time on the ground.
In a statement, Delta commented on the situation, saying, “The flight landed safely and we were taken to the gates. We apologize to our customers for the delayed trip.”
While such incidents are relatively uncommon, there have been notable occurrences lately where flights had to divert or make emergency landings due to pilot health issues.
For instance, just last year, a Southwest Airlines captain fell ill on a flight from Las Vegas to Columbus, requiring assistance from passengers and crew. Additionally, in 2022, an inexperienced passenger managed to land a small plane in Florida after the pilot experienced a medical emergency.
