Emergency: Boston-bound Delta flight DL251 turned around over the Atlantic and diverted to Porto

A transatlantic flight to Boston was forced to make an abrupt U-turn over the Atlantic Ocean today.

PORTO, Portugal — Delta Air Lines flight DL251, operated by an 11-year-old Airbus A330-300 (registration N824NW), took off from Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport shortly after 3:00 p.m. local time. After takeoff, the plane climbed to an initial altitude of 33,000 feet over mainland Spain before settling into its ocean cruise at 32,000 feet.

About two hours into the flight, while heading west over the Atlantic Ocean, the flight crew was forced to abort the crossing due to a medical situation in the cabin. The crew transmitted a code “Squawk 7700” (the international radio signal declaring a general emergency) and requested an immediate diversion to the nearest suitable airport due to the emergency.smoking in the cabin according to the source.

Air traffic controllers directed the wide-body aircraft to Francisco de Sá Carneiro Airport in Porto, Portugal. Just over three hours after leaving Barcelona, ​​the plane landed safely on runway 35 in Porto.

Following this unexpected diversion, Delta Air Lines has rescheduled the rest of the flight to Boston for tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. local time.

The disruption led to cascading schedule changes for the carrier. Due to the movement of the aircraft and crew, Delta has confirmed that connecting flights DL276 and DL277 have been canceled. Affected passengers are reassigned to alternative routes or provided with accommodation while awaiting the rescheduled departure.