We’ve heard about its offensive odor before, but we didn’t think it could possibly be that bad. However, according to The Jakarta Post, a durian fruit kept a plane on the runway and caused pure chaos inside the cabin.
On Monday, November 5th, a Sriwijaya Air flight bound for Jakarta from Bengkulu was delayed due to a foul stench wafting through the passenger cabin. The plane was reportedly attempting to transport two tons of durian fruit, and its scent travelled up through the cargo hold and into the noses of the pissed-off passengers.
A reporter who spoke to the Jakarta Post after being on the plane in question told the publication that passengers began to argue with the cabin crew, demanding to disembark. In fact, the tension was so high, passengers and crew members almost got into several physical fights.
“All this over a stinky fruit?” you ask. “For real?” Perhaps if you got a whiff of the durian, you’d understand the upset. Prominent food writer Richard Sterling described the fruit’s stench as “turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock.” Delicious.
The captain told the passengers to stay seated, but they mutinied. Eventually, the crew had to let the passengers off the plane before violence erupted.
Sriwijaya Air ultimately decided to remove the fruit from the cargo hold and invited the passengers back on. The flight left at around 11:40 a.m., an hour after the originally scheduled takeoff.
“It’s not illegal to carry durian in a flight as long as it is wrapped properly in accordance with flight regulations — carried inside the hold. Many airlines do this,” Sriwijaya Air senior corporate communications manager Retri Maya said in a statement, per the Post.
If one can cut through the durian’s odor, the fruit inside is reportedly delicious and is used as a flavoring in many Asian sweets and desserts. But we’re not telling that to the people who were trapped in an airplane with them. They deserve to be mad.
