(CBS Detroit) – A Delta Airlines flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was diverted early Wednesday morning after passengers were served spoiled meals.
A Delta spokesman confirmed that the issue caused Delta Flight 136 to be diverted to New York’s JFK airport.
Authorities said some of the chicken meals in the plane’s main cabin had spoiled, and medical staff treated affected passengers when the plane landed in New York around 4 a.m.
A Delta flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was rerouted to New York after passengers were served spoiled food. FlightAware
There were 277 passengers on the flight, but Delta officials have not released an exact number of passengers who ate the spoiled food. A source familiar with the situation told CBS New York that about 70 passengers became ill after eating the food.
Additionally, sources said some food had black mold growing on it, and one passenger said someone on the flight had tried chicken but “couldn’t finish it because it was so sour.”
“Delta’s food safety team requested that the supplier immediately quarantine the product and initiate a full investigation into the incident,” Delta spokeswoman Lisa Hanna said in a statement. “This is not Delta’s specialty and we sincerely apologize to our customers for any inconvenience and travel delays.”
All of the sick passengers refused further treatment.
A Delta spokesperson told CBS News late Wednesday that the airline “proactively adjusted meal service on multiple international flights” on Wednesday in response to the incident “out of an abundance of caution.”
The spokesman added that the pasta-only menu is being offered to economy class passengers on around 75 international flights.
Barbara Smith of Northville, Michigan, was one of the passengers on the flight who did not eat. She told CBS News Detroit that passengers were showing symptoms when the plane turned around. There was no major chaos, but many people were getting up to go to the bathroom, Smith said.
“The pilot came in and said, ‘We found that the food was contaminated and we’re not comfortable flying across the Atlantic with people who may have food poisoning,'” Smith said. “Was it the caterer’s fault or did the crew leave the food out for too long? I’m really wondering what went wrong in that chain of events, especially since we left on time. So I’d really appreciate some transparency and what they’re going to do to remedy this situation.”
Because Delta Flight 136 is an international flight, the issue was notified to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Passengers were given meal and hotel vouchers and the flight was scheduled to take off from JFK airport at 6:30 pm on Wednesday.
Last week, a Delta flight from Munich to Detroit was diverted to London after a flight attendant became ill.
Six flight attendants were examined by medical staff after the flight landed at Heathrow Airport. Delta said the flight attendants fell ill due to a strange odor in the cabin. None of the 229 passengers on board were affected.
The airline said last week’s incident was unrelated to the incident involving spoiled food.
More from CBS News
Sarah Powers
