A red-eye Delta Air Lines flight from Detroit to Amsterdam had to make an emergency landing early Wednesday after serving spoiled food on board.
Medical personnel met passengers on Flight 136 after it diverted to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to a Delta spokesperson. Flight crew landed the plane at 4 a.m. after discovering parts of the in-flight meal service were spoiled. No one was taken to a hospital.
About 280 passengers were on board the flight, which was leaving from the Detroit Metro Airport. It is unclear how many consumed the questionable food. USA Today reported a dozen passengers were evaluated by medical professionals upon landing.
Customers have been booked on alternate flights out of JFK today and were offered hotel rooms, the Delta spokesperson said. Delta’s Food Safety team contacted its food suppliers to investigate the incident.
The Delta spokesperson declined to comment further on the matter.
One passenger posting to social media said the meal option containing chicken was the culprit.
Airline consultant Bob Mann suspects the crew decided to land the plane before they could get too far offshore.
“You don’t want to go five hours over water and let people get progressively worse,” Mann said. “The natural reaction is to stop where they have a station, and JFK is a big hub for Delta.”
This is the second time in about five months that a Delta flight between the U.S. and Amsterdam has been disrupted by something rotten onboard the cabin.
A Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit returned to Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands’ capital city in February after maggots fell from an overhead bin, reportedly from rotten fish brought aboard by a passenger.
In February, Fox 2 Detroit quoted a passenger, Philip Schotte, saying the maggots fell on a woman who “was freaking out.”
”She was just trying to kind of fight off these maggots,” said Schotte, who cited rotten fish in a carry-on bag as the source of the maggots, according to the Fox 2 Detroit report.
Delta apologized to customers on the February flight, who received compensation for the disruption. The airline called the cause “an improperly packed carry-on bag.”
It’s not uncommon to divert a flight, Mann said. Some reasons are more drastic than others —f light captains can land due to medical emergencies, malfunctioning seats, broken toilets or unruly passengers.
“The Number One issue is ensuring crew and customer safety,” Mann said.
