‘Spoiled food’ forces Delta flight to make emergency landing in New York covered in black mold

The “spoiled food” that sickened passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight and forced it to make an emergency landing in New York City was covered in black mold, sources told The Washington Post on Wednesday.

At least 24 people have fallen ill after eating moldy food on Flight 136 to Amsterdam, which landed shortly after 3 a.m. at John F. Kennedy International Airport, sources said.

Air traffic controllers initially reported to the airport that 70 people had fallen ill, but emergency medical services treated only 20 people with symptoms. No one was taken to hospital.

Flight data showed the situation was so severe that the plane, which was coming from Detroit, turned back and headed to John F. Kennedy Airport after reaching Newfoundland in the east.

The nature of the contaminated meal is not yet clear, but Delta confirmed in a statement that “there are reports that part of the main cabin meal service on board the aircraft has been spoiled.”

All 277 passengers on the flight were given overnight hotel accommodation and will continue their journey on Wednesday evening, a source said.

One traveler, Virginia, insisted that the modifications were not a sufficient solution.

“I don’t need hotel or food vouchers, I need them to get to Amsterdam today,” Virginia wrote, and Delta responded asking her to send a private message.

Virginia later provided an update saying it had booked a new flight at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

“We’re not there yet. After 30 hours of travel, it’s 6 a.m. tomorrow. I hope to get there,” she said.

Delta issued an apology after the landing.

“This is not the service Delta is known for and we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay to their flights,” a company spokesperson said.