Additional Coverage:
- A Delta Air Lines flight had to turn around when 24 people needed medical attention after eating spoiled food (newsbreak.com)
A Delta Air Lines Airbus A330 was forced to make a U-turn back to the United States after an issue with spoiled in-flight meals was reported. The flight, which originated from Detroit and was headed to Amsterdam, diverted to New York early Wednesday morning. Upon landing, 24 individuals, including 10 crew members and 14 out of the plane’s 277 passengers, received medical treatment, though no hospitalizations were necessary.
The incident prompted Delta to only offer vegetarian meal options to thousands of other passengers on international flights that day, according to the travel news site Paddle Your Own Kanoo. The airline has since begun working with its food suppliers to investigate the matter and prevent future occurrences.
Delta expressed regrets over the incident stating it is not reflective of their usual service standards and apologized for any inconvenience and delays caused to travelers. Passengers affected by the diversion were provided with hotel accommodations and transport arrangements to continue their journey.
This event adds to a string of similar occurrences involving other airlines. Recently, United Airlines had to deep clean one of its aircraft after 30 passengers reported feeling ill, and Condor took measures to enhance its cleaning protocols following 70 passengers showing symptoms of illness on a flight earlier in the month. The most notable case happened on a 1975 Japan Air Lines flight where nearly 200 passengers fell ill due to food contaminated by Staphylococcus bacteria.