A Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit had to turn back on Tuesday after passengers were horrified to find maggots falling on them from the overhead bins. The source of the infestation was a rotten fish that a passenger had brought on board in a carry-on bag.
According to Philip Schotte, sitting next to the woman who first noticed the larvae, the flight attendants traced the problem to a bag containing a fish wrapped in newspaper. He said the smell was unbearable when the bag opened, and the maggots crawled everywhere.
“I don’t know what was going through my mind. I was trying to process it – disgust is one thing, of course,” Schotte told Fox 2. He said the passengers had to wait for help, and the flight returned to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Delta Airlines apologized to the passengers for the inconvenience and placed them on the next available flight. The aircraft was removed from service for cleaning.
Delta also said that the trip was “interrupted due to an improperly packed carry-on bag” and reminded passengers to follow the guidelines for carry-on luggage.
The incident sparked outrage and disbelief on social media, with some users questioning how the security checks failed to detect the rotten fish and the larvae.
