A Delta flight was delayed for hours after an aircraft returned to the gate when deicing fluid leaked into the cabin and soaked a passenger. The incident involved Delta Air Lines flight 1307, which was preparing to depart LaGuardia Airport for Florida with roughly 90 passengers on board. After the plane visited a deicing pad, the crew requested to head back to the gate. “We had a bunch of deicing fluid leak inside the aircraft and soak a passenger,” the pilot told air traffic control, according to an audio recording. Asked if medical services were needed, the pilot replied, “Yeah, I think maybe a new pair of pants.” Deicing is a standard cold-weather procedure that uses a mixture of warm water and propylene glycol to remove snow and ice from aircraft surfaces. In this case, the liquid made its way through the fuselage and into the cabin near the wings. Delta said the passenger was not injured and that only a small amount of fluid landed on his clothing. The airline described such leaks as “very rare” and said the chemicals are non-hazardous. The aircraft was swapped “out of an abundance of caution,” and the passenger continued traveling with the airline. Flight data shows the jet departed several hours later and arrived without further incident.
