Man kicked off Delta Air Lines flight because he went to the toilet

A Delta Air Lines passenger was kicked off a flight after he went to the toilet while the plane was delayed on the runway.

‘DJ and poet’ Kima Hamilton asked crew if he could use the toilet while the plane, which was due to travel from Atlanta to Milwaukee, was held on the tarmac for 30 minutes.

The 39-year-old told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "We weren't taking off. We were still. The plane isn't moving."

However the flight attendants refused to allow him his request and he returned to his seat.

The delay continued, and Mr Hamilton quickly popped to the bathroom.

After that he said the situation “escalated fast”.

He said: "The pilot came on and said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry for the inconvenience but we have to return to the gate and remove a passenger’.“

In video footage of what happened next, posted on YouTube by passenger Krista Rosolino, Mr Hamlilton is seen talking calmly to two Delta officials.

He tells the officials that he has “hasn’t done anything hostile” and asks them to help him “understand why” he is being thrown off the plane.

Mr Hamilton said at one point he apologised to a man sitting next to him for the inconvenience, to which the man replied: "You did nothing wrong".

The whole plane was eventually forced to disembark and reboard while he was interviewed by police and Delta personnel in the airport.

Ms Rosolino, who was sitting across the aisle from Mr Hamilton, said his treatment as "outrageous".

In an open letter to the airline, she wrote: "Not only did your staff truly harm and humiliate one person who was forced to pay hundreds of dollars for a new same-day flight, but you forced the rest of us passengers to endure a 2 hour saga of watching a man being targeted for having a bathroom emergency."

Delta said in a statement: "Our flight crews are extensively trained to ensure the safety and security of all customers.

"It is imperative that passengers comply with crew instructions during all phases of flight, especially at the critical points of takeoff and landing.”