Delta flight from LA to Boston diverts to Detroit as captain gets sick mid-air

A Delta Air Lines captain forced the Boston-bound flight to divert to Michigan after falling ill mid-air.

The incident took place on Tuesday, August 25, aboard Delta Air Lines flight No. 437.

The flight in question took off from LA International Airport to Boston Logan International Airport, confirmed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday, August 27, 2026.

As per the ATC data, the captain was heard telling the tower, “This is the captain. I am the one who is ill. Um, I am going to taxi the jet to the gate and then I need to go to the hospital.”

Delta Airlines released a statement about the incident, confirming, "Crew illness” happened aboard the Boeing 757 that day.”

“We apologise to our customers for this disruption in their travels," the Atlanta-based airline added.

According to FlightAware, a portal which tracks flights, shows the plane left Los Angeles around 11 a.m. PT and was scheduled for landing about five-hours later in Boston.

Instead, the crew had to make an emergency landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport nearly four hours into the trip at around 5:45 p.m. local time.

The Boeing 757 with flight DL437 had 147 passengers aboard.

The incident led to the flight eventually taking off and landing in Boston roughly two hours later than scheduled, just before 9 p.m. ET.