Delta Accidentally De-Iced a Passenger Who Was Inside The Plane

A Delta Air Lines flight had to return to the gate on Sunday after an incident left a passenger soaked in de-icing fluids.

The plane, Delta Flight 1307, was supposed to depart LaGuardia Airport in New York on Sunday, January 18th, headed for Jacksonville, Florida. But records show the Airbus A220-100 did not depart at its scheduled time.

In LiveATC.net's recordings of Air Traffic Control radio, the pilot can be heard requesting a return to the gate after the plane visited the airport's de-icing pad.

“Still coordinating for a gate at this time, uh, but we need to go back to a gate,” the pilot tells ATC.

When asked the reason by Air Traffic Control, the pilot responded with “We had a bunch of deicing fluid leak inside the aircraft and soak a passenger."

De-icing plays a crucial role in flight safety during the colder months, because ice and snow can alter the shape of the wings, causing all sorts of lift issues, mechanical issues, and air flow issues. Typically, the plane will pass through a deicing pad before takeoff to remove all of the snow and ice with a spray of warm water and propylene glycol.

The deicing is supposed to be on the outside of the plane, and none should be inside. This shows that some sort of seal that is supposed to be sealed is no longer sealed.

“Do you need any medical services or anything, or do they just need to get dried off,” the controller asks.

“Yeah, I think maybe a new pair of pants,” the pilot says. “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.”

Repeat expsoure to the propylene glycol can sometimes irritate the skin, according to the CDC.

A spokesperson for Delta said the passenger was seated near the wings of the plane and only a "small amount of fluid" landed on the person's clothes. Which I suppose is good, considering the correct amount to get on their clothes is "no amount of fluid."

The plane was swapped out, the customer continued traveling and the plane arrived just three hours late after all was said and done.

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