A Virgin Australia aircraft flying to Sydney was forced to turn back to Los Angeles after sinks on board leaked.
Passengers claimed the stench was “unbearable” and said human waste had reached the aisles – a claim the airline denied.
Virgin Australia said the flight was turned around for the comfort of those on board. The aircraft landed in Los Angeles at 4.09am local time on Tuesday.
“All guests have been accommodated overnight in Los Angeles and Virgin Australia is working to get them to their destination as soon as possible” the airline said.
“All affected guests have been re-accommodated free of charge onto a recovery flight scheduled to depart Los Angeles Airport for Sydney at 19.55 local time.
“The aircraft has now been inspected by engineers and cleared to return to service.”
The airline said the safety of passengers was never called into question.
“In accordance with standard operating procedures, the captain made the decision to return to port as a precautionary measure after two of the sinks on board were leaking,” Virgin Australia said. The carrier did not reveal what had caused the problem.
A resident of Christchurch, where the aircraft was headed after Sydney, said the smell was “unbearable”.
“We could see it [human waste] it go through the aisles; it was very obvious,” Julia Malley told a radio station in New Zealand.
However, Virgin Australia denied there was leakage from the toilets onboard.
“The onboard toilets operate on a completely separate drainage system,” the airline told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“As the issue was with the aircraft sink, and not the toilets, there was no incident of leaked human waste.”