The flight from Atlanta to Barcelona was two hours in when the traveller had the runs “all the way through the plane”.

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The pilot had to turn the plane around on Friday and make an emergency landing as horrified passengers held their noses.

Speaking to air traffic control, the captain said: “This is a biohazard issue.

“We’ve had a passenger who’s had diarrhea all the way through the airplane, so they want us to come back to Atlanta.”

Flight attendants on board attempted to scrub the mess before the plane landed.

But according to those on board, the disinfectant spray didn’t quite do the trick.

One woman whose partner was on board tweeted: “It was pretty bad.

“It was dribbled down the aisle, smelled horrible.

“The vanilla scented disinfectant used on it only made it smell like vanilla s***.

“After the plane landed, it was thoroughly cleaned.”

Passengers whose flight was ruined were transferred from the Airbus A350 aircraft to another jet and made it to Spain eight hours later than scheduled, Flightradar24 data shows.

The tainted plane was subject to a deep clean after the emergency landing, and has since been used for another journey, flight records show.

Delta Airlines confirmed a passenger suffered a “medical incident”, but did not elaborate.

A spokesman told Insider: “Delta flight 194 from Atlanta to Barcelona returned to Atlanta following an onboard medical issue.

“Our teams worked as quickly and safely as possible to thoroughly clean the airplane and get our customers to their final destination.

“We sincerely apologise to our customers for the delay and inconvenience to their travel plans.”

It comes after passengers desperately pleaded for oxygen masks to drop as a plane cabin began to fill with smoke mid-air.

Travellers on the Gol Airlines flight across Brazil were left gasping for air as pilots were forced to make a dramatic emergency landing on Saturday.