The jet was flying from Bangalore to Delhi in India when a “pungent” odour started wafting from the front toilet.
SpiceJet – a budget airline in India with the tagline “Red, Hot, Spicy” – was operating a Boeing 737.
Almost 200 passengers and crew soon became overwhelmed by the foul smell, including the pilots.
The odour forced the plane to be diverted to Hyderabad where it was investigated.
Though the cause of the smell has not yet been revealed, SpiceJet described it as “very foul”.
Flight SG192 landed safely in Hyderabad, before being cleaned and ventilated.
The plane began operating again some three hours later.
A SpiceJet spokesman said: “SpiceJet B-737 operatingSG192 had to be diverted to Hyderabad due to very foul smell from forward lavatory coming into the cockpit.
“After landing in Hyderabad, the lavatory and cockpit were thoroughly cleaned and ventilated before the aircraft was released for service.”
Express.co.uk has contacted SpiceJet for further comment.
A Ryanair plane was forced to divert last week over a severe bout of turbulence.
The passenger jet was travelling from Madrid to Dublin when it was caught in the 70mph winds of Storm Ewan.
The Boeing 737 had to abort its landing due to the high winds and was diverted to Shannon, 135 miles away.
However, the turbulence was so bad towards the end of the flight, some passengers were reportedly vomiting, with many left severely shaken by the experience.
One passenger, a mother of two, told the Irish Mirror that up to 25 passengers were so terrified by the experience they refused to re-board the plane at Shannon to fly back to Dublin.
She said: “It was an extremely turbulent flight and there were people vomiting and absolutely terrified.”
