A Lufthansa Airbus A340-600, performing flight from Frankfurt/Main (Germany) to Atlanta (USA), was climbing out of Frankfurt’s runway when the crew stopped the climb reporting they had a “smell event” on board.

The crew indicated that the aircraft was completely okay, however, it was possible they would not continue the flight, they wanted to remain in the vicinity of the airport while troubleshooting. A number of passengers began to complain about nausea and dizziness.

About 20 minutes after levelling off the crew advised their decision was taken, a number of crew reported being dizzy because of the odour, they didn’t want to risk anything, they were therefore returning to Frankfurt, fuel dump was not necessary, time was more important, a normal landing was to be expected.

The aircraft landed safely back on runway about 40 minutes after departure.