A holiday flight to Mexico had to land unexpectedly in Bermuda due to a horrible smell caused by 100 pigs in the cargo hold.
Flight KL685, operated by Dutch airline KLM, was flying from Amsterdam to Mexico City shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday with 259 passengers on board when the pilot made an unusual landing request six hours into the flight.
The captain said the live pigs in the cargo hold gave off such a “disgusting” odor that the plane would have to make an unplanned stop for fresh air before continuing its journey.
When the tower asked the pilot to confirm whether there were live pigs in the cargo hold, he replied: “Yes, and they are probably the source of the problems, so they have to be unloaded, but we will see about that later.” ‘
The plane landed at LF Wade International Airport in Bermuda on Friday night, where passengers and crew were put up in hotels for the night due to the “oxygen issue” on board.
The 100 pigs were unloaded and transported to a “safe location” on the island for their unplanned “vacation stay,” according to Bermuda Flyer.
Once the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was adequately ventilated, on Saturday around 10:00 p.m. it left for Mexico City with a delay of almost 30 hours.
But the pigs remained stranded on the North Atlantic island until last night, when an empty cargo plane arrived in Bermuda to pick them up and transport them to Mexico City.
Flight KL685, operated by Dutch airline KLM, was flying from Amsterdam to Mexico City shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday with 259 passengers on board when the pilot made an unusual landing request six hours into the flight ( archive image of a KLM flight taking off from Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol Airport)
The captain said the live pigs in the cargo hold gave off such a “disgusting” smell that the plane would have to make an unplanned stop to take a break and get some fresh air before continuing its journey (file image)
A flight tracker shows the path of the KLM flight that had to make an unscheduled landing in Bermuda
“The welfare of the animals is a priority,” the Bermuda government said in a statement about the care of the pigs while they were on the island.
“Government veterinarian Dr Jonathan Nisbett and animal care workers from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources have been looking after the pigs and making sure they are well cared for,” he added.
A Skyport spokesperson said: “The 259 passengers and crew, who surely never expected their journey to go haywire, have been processed through immigration and are being accommodated in local hotels, thanks to quick coordination between Skyport, the local authorities and Delta Air Lines, KLM’s partner airline.
“Meanwhile, the pigs, living high during their impromptu holiday stopover, are being cared for in a safe location on the island, with the help of a government veterinarian.”
After both the passenger plane and the cargo plane carrying the pigs took off from Bermuda, the island’s government said: “The coordinated efforts reflect the island’s commitment to caring for all visitors, whether walk on two legs or trot on four.
It is unclear whether the live pigs were placed in the wrong place in the plane’s cargo hold, thus allowing their odor to penetrate the cabin.