TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Delta Airlines flight had to turn around on Tuesday after passengers on the plane were showered with maggots that had fallen from an overhead bin.
According to reports, a fellow passenger had packed rotting fish in their carry-on, which attracted the maggots.
Flight tracking site FlightAware showed the plane was headed to Detroit, Michigan, from Amsterdam when it was forced to turn around just an hour after departing.
Philip Schotte, a passenger on the flight, told Detroit news station WJBK that he saw a woman across the aisle “trying to kind of fight off these maggots” and thought it was a “prank” at first.
“I don’t really know what was going through my mind. I was trying to process it—disgust is one thing, of course,” he said.
According to NBC Affiliate WTVJ, flight attendants saw the bugs coming from an overhead bin, where they found a “rotting fish wrapped in newspaper” inside luggage.
“I did see everyone’s reaction to the bag being opened, which was just an immediate pinching of the nose,” Schotte added.
Delta Airlines confirmed the incident to NBC News in a statement, saying the bag had been “improperly packed.”
“We apologize to the customers of Flight 133 on Feb. 13 as their trip was interrupted due to an improperly packed carry-on bag,” Delta said. “The aircraft returned to the gate and customers were placed on the next available flight. The aircraft was removed from service for cleaning.”
Aviation news site Airlive reported that the carry-on bag was put in another bag to be burned. The aircraft was reportedly cleaned and resumed service.