A flight was forced to return to its origin airport in Amsterdam around an hour after take-off when maggots fell from the overhead compartment onto passengers.
The passengers in the economy section of Delta Airlines Flight DL 133 faced the nightmare experience on Tuesday (Feb. 13) after the plane took off from Amsterdam to head to Detroit, Michigan. The bizarre episode unfolded when a passenger’s suitcase containing rotting fish opened up while in the overhead bin, resulting in maggots falling onto passengers, according to reports in the local media.
After the flight landed in Amsterdam, all passengers were asked to de-board the aircraft and the suitcase containing the fish was placed in a bag to be destroyed. The plane was thoroughly deep cleaned too.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Kelce, one of the passengers aboard the Delta flight, revealed that once the plane landed in Amsterdam, the Delta crew identified the owner of the rotting suitcase.
Delta Airlines, as compensation, gave travellers 8,000 air miles, hotel room compensation, and a $30 meal ticket if they were delayed overnight, Kelce added.
Meanwhile, some of the other passengers on the flight took to Reddit to write about their situation. “So I was on this unfortunate flight lol. My family and I were in the row directly in front of the maggots. The lady right behind us told the flight attendants the maggots were falling on her head. Ugh. I turned around and they were wiggling around on the seat. They moved us further in front though,” one user wrote.
“One of our carry-on bags was right near the disgusting one so at the end of the flight when I went to get it after checking it over thoroughly, the passenger in question was still sitting there and didn’t exit the plane. So assuming some kind of consequences but unclear what. Also apparently it was wrapped in newspaper. Absolutely gross,” the user wrote further.
Another passenger on Reddit revealed that the owner of the suitcase was not detained by the airport authorities.
“I was in the row where the maggots were falling and alerted the staff to it alongside the lady on the opposite end of the row. I exited the plane at the same time as the culprit and he was on the same bus with me to the airport afterward. He was seated separately for a while at the service area we were all directed to, but at least he wasn’t detained on the plane itself,” wrote the user.
Delta Airlines issued a statement, apologising to the customers of Flight 133 AMS-DTW as “their trip was interrupted due to an improperly packed carry-on bag.”
“The aircraft returned to the gate and passengers were placed on the next available flight. The aircraft was removed from service for cleaning,” the statement read.
