Maggots rain down on Delta passenger; plane forced to turn around

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Delta Airlines flight had to turn around on Tuesday after a passenger on the plane was reportedly showered with maggots that had fallen from an overhead bin.

According to Detroit news station WJBK, 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 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 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.

Nexstar reached out to Delta and received the following statement regarding the stomach-churning reports:

We apologize 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.

Delta spokesperson

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.