Plane passengers showered with maggots falling from overhead cabin

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 maggots landing on their heads. 

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 travellers 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 woman 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.

“They moved us further in front though. One of our carry-on bags was right near 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.”