Passengers onboard a KLM flight spent 11 hours in the air only to end up right where they started, which was Amsterdam. The plane traveling from Amsterdam to Mexico was forced to turn around about five-and-a-half hours into the flight due to a volcanic eruption.
To make matters worse, the KLM flight KL685 could not land at another airport because it was also carrying a cargo of horses. According to The Independent, the plane was over Canada when the decision was taken that it had to turn around. The plane was forced to return to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport where it had taken off from.
The volcano eruption and the cargo of horses made the situation such that the flight turned out to be very long, but ultimately going nowhere. The volcanic activity from Popocatepetl, an active volcano near Mexico City created "unfavorable flying conditions."
In a statement obtained by The Independent, a spokesperson for KLM said, "Due to a volcanic eruption in Mexico, the flight KL685 Amsterdam-Mexico returned to Schiphol on Thursday 28 November."
"The flight landed safely at Schiphol at 2:30 a.m.," it continued, "where the passengers disembarked normally and have been taken care of in Amsterdam. They will be rebooked on an alternative flight. Landing at another airport was not possible, because of the visa requirements of passengers and as there was a large cargo of horses onboard."
