Plane passengers showered with maggots falling from ‘bag full of rotten fish’

The Delta Air Lines flight turned around and headed back to Amsterdam after the maggot incident(Pictures: AP)

A plane was forced to turn back after passengers got covered in maggots that had fallen from a ‘bag of rotten fish’ in the overhead cabin.

The Delta Air Lines plane was on its way from Amsterdam to Detroit in the US, when passengers noticed the grubs landing on their head.

Despite being an hour into the flight, the plane turned around and flew back to Schiphol Airport and passengers were taken offboard so the aircraft could be deep cleaned.

It’s believed the suitcase with the fish, which had apparently broken open, was destroyed.

A passenger named Kelce told MailOnline that Delta staff identified the owner of the suitcase and detained him on the plane after everyone else had left.

It’s not clear if any action was taken against him.

Kelce said travelers were given 8,000 air miles, hotel room compensation and a $30 meal ticket if they were delayed overnight.

Fellow passenger Philip Schotte was sitting next to a women who was showered with ‘at least a dozen maggots’.

Asked what he thought at the time, he said: ‘I don’t know what was going through my mind, I was trying to process it. Disgusted is one thing of course.’

He said he was surprised rotten fish and maggots were not picked up on the security cameras at the airport.

A third passenger wrote on Reddit: ‘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. 

The maggots apparently came from rotten fish wrapped in newspaper (Stock image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

‘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. 

‘Some kind of consequences but unclear what. Also apparently it was wrapped in newspaper. Absolutely gross.’

Carrying food onto a plane is not considered dangerous and is allowed onboard if packaged properly, according to Delta Air Policy.

Just months ago, in September, another less-than-savoury incident onboard a Delta flight forced the aircraft to turn back.

The plane had to be deep cleaned after it landed (Picture: Chris Rank)

The plane had taken off from Georgia in the US and was on its way to Barcelona, when a pilot announced they were heading back as a passenger had left ‘diarrhoea all the way through the plane’ and it was a ‘biohazard issue’.

One person later wrote on Twitter: ‘I was on this flight! The culprit diarrheaed as he walked up the aisle from the back rows toward the bathroom,’ Ty described the horror scene.

‘Then as the plane ascended he slid on the poop like ice skates all the way to the back rows again, leaving actual poop skid marks in the aisle. Total Tom & Jerry stuff.’

Delta Air Lines has been contacted for a comment.

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