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Louise Thomas

Editor

A Delta Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in New York after passengers were served a “spoiled” in-flight meal service.

Flight 136 departed Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport for Amsterdam on Tuesday evening but diverted to JFK airport once the “contaminated” food was discovered.

According to data from the tracking site FlightRadar24, the Delta plane was flying over Saint Pierre and Miquelon – a French archipelago south of Canada’s Newfoundland – when it was turned around.

The Airbus A330 landed safely at JFK at 4am this morning (3 July) and was met by medics to treat affected passengers.

It is currently unknown how many of the 277 passengers onboard consumed the spoiled meals and if any travellers displayed symptoms of food poisoning.

One impacted passenger, Virginia, wrote on Twitter/X: “@delta I need to know how you’re going to get me to Amsterdam today - I’m on the plane that’s emergency landing at JFK because you served passengers “contaminated” food - I don’t need hotel/food vouchers I need to arrive in Amsterdam today.”

A spokesperson for Delta Airlines said in a statement: “Delta flight 136 from Detroit to Amsterdam diverted to New York’s JFK early Wednesday morning after reports that a portion of the Main Cabin in-flight meal service were spoiled.

“Medical crews met the aircraft to treat any affected passengers and crew members. Delta’s Food Safety team has engaged our suppliers to immediately isolate the product and launch a thorough investigation into the incident.

“This is not the service Delta is known for, and we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay in their travels.”

The airline says that they are “currently working through the situation” and will provide further updates later today.

For more travel news and advice listen to Simon Calder’s podcast.

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