A KLM plane was forced to turn back nearly four hours into its journey from Amsterdam to Lima in Peru. The cause of the rerouting? A bad smell. 

Bad smell forces KLM flight to return to Schiphol Airport

The plane took off from Schiphol Airport at 10am on Saturday, April 12, RTL reports, but was forced to abandon the journey after three hours and 44 minutes after an unpleasant odour began to spread through the cabin. The plane touched back down on Dutch soil at 5.15pm, and passengers were rebooked onto different flights. 

A KLM spokesperson told RTL that officials were still investigating the source of the smell. “Everyone smelled a bad, unpleasant smell,” they said. “That could be anything, for example something that was in the cargo.” However, they said it wasn’t something as trivial as “a few sweaty feet”, but a much stronger smell. 

KLM is investigating the source of the smell

Upon landing, the plane was taken out of service for an investigation into the source of the smell. KLM has not given any other information about what could have caused it, but instead emphasised that all passengers and staff on board the plane were unharmed. 

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