Medical Emergency Prompts Delta Flight to Return to Minneapolis

Every so often you hear of some sort of medical emergency onboard a flight somewhere.  Sometimes they need to make an emergency landing, other times they can be tended to on board.

THIS SITUATION ALWAYS HAPPENS ON MOVIES AND/OR TV SHOWS

You always hear in the movies or on TV about someone having an issue and someone else yelling if there is a Dr. on board.  That situation became a reality on one flight that I was on from Las Vegas to Minneapolis.  It was very surreal.  The lady just needed the entire row to lie down.  The other people where then just scattered throughout the aircraft standing in the aisles, as the flight was full.  It was a large aircraft, so there was an extra aisle, but it was still super awkward.

IT COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE - BUT THIS ONE IS MORE CONCERNING

When you hear these things, you generally don't expect it to be the pilot.  And if it is, that adds a new level of anxiety to the situation.

That is what happened on Monday.  A Delta flight left Minneapolis, heading for Orlando, Florida, and wound up turning around shortly after takeoff.  The pilot said he was expriencing chest pains and arm numbness.  So the correct thing to do was to not chance it, turn around and get medical attention.

YES, INCONVENIENT, BUT SAFETY OF EVERYONE COMES FIRST

From CBS News:

"The crew followed established procedures to return to MSP where the aircraft landed safely," Delta said in a statement. "As safety comes first at Delta, we are focused on supporting the pilot and our customers to ensure onward travel."

Even though we all know that it's safety first, this is still super inconvenient.  But the passengers (178 of them) need to know that this was much better than what COULD have been an outcome.  Delta arranged for a new flight crew before the trip could resume on it's route to Orlando.

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