A Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City was forced to turn back mid-air after a passenger brought spoiled food on board, causing an intense odour throughout the cabin.
A Delta Air Lines aircraft based in the United States returned to Los Angeles Airport for an unusual reason. Delta’s Flight 2311 was en route to Salt Lake City when it had to cut its journey short due to a foul smell spreading inside the cabin.
According to local media outlets KSL and ABC4 Utah, the unpleasant odour that disturbed around 200 passengers was caused by spoiled food brought on board by one of the passengers. When the smell of decaying food spread throughout the aircraft, the pilots, following procedure, decided to return to Los Angeles.
In a statement made by Delta Air Lines, the company said, “The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority. Our crew made a safe return to Los Angeles after detecting an unpleasant odour on board. We apologise to all our passengers for the delay to their travel plans.”
The airline clarified that the smell was not related to any Delta-provided catering item and was entirely passenger-related. Following the incident, the passengers on board were transferred to another flight to Salt Lake City.
Delta officials announced that the aircraft would be returned to service after cabin cleaning.
