The most famous recent instance of a "diarrhea-induced" turnaround occurred on Delta Air Lines Flight DL194 on September 1, 2023. The Airbus A350 was traveling from Atlanta to Barcelona when it was forced to turn back over central Virginia. The pilot described the situation to air traffic control as a "biohazard issue" after a passenger suffered an extreme case of explosive diarrhea that spread throughout the cabin. While it became a viral sensation, such events are taken very seriously by airlines for health and safety reasons. In 2026, cleaning protocols for "biohazard" events remain rigorous; in this specific case, the aircraft had to be deep-cleaned for several hours, and the flight eventually reached Barcelona the following day with a new crew. The incident remains a textbook example of why pilots have the ultimate authority to divert a flight when the cabin environment becomes unsanitary or unsafe for other passengers and crew.