A Delta Air Lines flight was forced to return to Amsterdam after maggots began dropping from an overhead bin. Blame for this lies squarely on a pea-brained passenger who failed to properly pack his fish before the long flight to Detroit.
Maggots From Rotted Fish Drop From Overheard Bin On Delta Air Lines A330, Forcing Diversion
When you fly to the US from abroad, federal restrictions on the importation of meat are very strict. But they are much less strict for fish. Indeed, in many cases fishes are just fine as long as they are declared and you are only bringing in personal quantities (i.e., not for resale). Delta also does not have rules against the transport or importation of fish, beyond requiring that it be packed well.
A passenger flying on DL133 from Amsterdam (AMS) to Detroit (DTW) on Tuesday, February 13, 2024 had the bright idea to bring fish back to the USA. Again, that’s not necessarily a no-no. But this pea-brained man decided to simply pack the fish in newspaper and drop them in his carry-on bag. That must have been days ago, because by the time the flight took off, the fish were maggot-infested.
And those maggots managed to escape from the fish, into the overhead bin, and start dropping out on passengers seated below. Yuck.
(You can only imagine how many there were if they made that much progress onboard so quickly)
One passengers told the UK Daily Mail:
“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 of our carry-on bags was right nearby 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.”
An hour after takeoff, the flight turned around and returned to Amsterdam. Passengers were offloaded, the bag was removed (and burned), and the aircraft clean.
Many passengers were re-accommodated on other routings to their final destinations, with Delta providing:
- 8,000 SkyMiles
- hotel room compensation
- $30 meal voucher
Perhaps Delta needs to explicitly ban all raw poultry, meat, and fish in carry-on baggage?
CONCLUSION
A Delta flight was forced to turn back to AMS after maggots escaped from a passenger’s hand baggage. I hope Delta will send that particular passenger a bill for the extra fuel, labor costs, and other related expenses required as a result of such a foolish decision to bring spoiled fish onboard.
This is exactly why I hate fish in carry-on bags .
I find it hard to believe that Delta, a “premium” airline, could allow something like this to happen?
It’s not Delta’s fault – they don’t search our carry-ons.
The moron who brought the fish should be required to reimburse DL for all costs incurred as a result o0f his blatant ignorance. Cleaning/fumigating the plane, diverting the flight, accommodating the passengers, etc.
Honestly, I’m fed up with stupid people screwing things up for everyone else.
At least Delta provide compensation right away. I was on the nightmare KL601 flight the day before with only one working toilet with a captain who thought flying ten hours to LAX with doable if passengers reduced their intake of fluids on a plane with over 300 passengers. He stated there were no procedures listed for that situation but common sense should have kicked in. It will take me 10 weeks for compensation from Air France,
Was everyone smell deficient? Before the maggots dropped, and during boarding, the stench should have caused concern. Nothing covers that odor. Questioning the aroma early and removing the offender could have saved a lot of time and money.
That’s a very fair point.
I didn’t need to see that pic!
“ the bag was removed (and burned)”
Yes. Hopefully with Lithium-Ion battery fire so the flames don’t die. Maggots are nightmare fuel.
What happened to just going to Amsterdam to get high and buy p#ssy?
The passenger was interested in more authentic fish tacos than the ones on De Wallen
Seriously ???,……your disgusting comment is worse than the visual of the maggots. I hope you don’t think it’s humorous. Go back to reading your porno stuff instead of commenting on a travel article.
This is shocking and appalling. The fishmonger pax caused business class to miss first round drink service and five course meal. I guess it’s better to have falling maggots from the overhead compartments rather than snakes. Has this pax ever heard of smoking the fish before taking it for a trip?
Data from flight tracking website FlightAware shows Flight 133 spent just one hour and 49 minutes in the air. I think 8000 Sky Miles compensation will only cover 40 minute flight time DL
It’s hard to understand just how stupid, inconsiderate, and flat out nasty some folks are…
I have brought fish as a carry on item a number of times– it’s not all that uncommon if you like to do fishing trips when you travel. All you have to do is pack it properly and have a sense of responsibility about it to ensure that there will be no issue with smell or drainage or apparently maggots (which I had never even considered as a possibility before this). I don’t think I would do it transatlantic though– just too much time and hassle to ensure that you take care of it properly.
Couldn’t agree more!
We haven’t traveled with fish, but have brought plenty of food packed in a plastic lined cooler (ice dumped prior to screening, add more in from pleasant bar-staffers at airside restaurants, lounges, etc – inside zip lock baggies, so no leaking). And family friends have brought their exotic catches inside styro containers packed with ice and well wrapped.
It’s not rocket science, just common courtesy mixed with a little thinking/planning.
Ew.
The cutie needs to at least be fined…
That’s what they ask you on your customs’ forms, any live specimens. Some science students’ experiment gone wrong.