Delta Airlines Flight Emergency Landing After Passengers Fall Ill from Spoiled Food

A Delta Airlines flight originating from Detroit and en route to Amsterdam was forced to make an emergency landing at JFK Airport in New York after passengers onboard fell ill due to consuming spoiled food. The incident occurred on Flight 136, which had a total of 277 passengers.

According to a spokesperson from the U.S. carrier as reported by The Daily Mail, the A330 aircraft was diverted to JFK Airport in the early hours of July 3. Upon landing, medical staff attended to 14 passengers and 10 crew members who had all declined further treatment.

All affected individuals, including passengers and crew, were offered hotel accommodations, transport, and arrangements for rebooking to continue their journey to Amsterdam.

Expressing frustration, a passenger took to social media questioning Delta Airlines on how they planned to get passengers to Amsterdam after the diverted flight due to serving what was described as ‘contaminated’ food.

The airline’s spokesperson issued a statement expressing apologies for the inconvenience caused, assuring customers that this incident did not align with the service standards Delta is known for. The company pledged to investigate the cause of the incident immediately.

This is not the first incident involving a Delta airplane making an emergency landing in New York. In a similar case back in April, another Delta aircraft had to land after an emergency slide detached from the plane. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported during that incident on the Boeing 767 which was carrying 176 passengers.

Commenting on the rarity of such occurrences, travel consultant Henry Harteveldt, who is the founder of Atmosphere Research Group, highlighted that airlines serve a large number of meals daily, making incidents like these an exception rather than the norm.