Passengers Report Bedbugs Crawling on Them During a Long-Haul Flight, Forcing Airline to Ground Plane Once Landed
Passengers on a Qantas flight reported bedbugs crawling across their clothes, blankets and even the windows before the plane headed off to Rome. The airline later canceled its return flight to Australia and took the Boeing 787 Dreamliner out of service.
The trouble started Friday, October 9, on flight QF5’s first leg from Sydney to Perth. Travelers told the crew about the insects before the aircraft continued on the more than 16-hour flight to Italy.
Qantas said it had parts of the cabin cleaned, removed seat covers and other soft furnishings, and kept passengers out of affected seats while the plane was in Perth. Passengers aboard the Perth-to-Rome flight later reported being bitten.
The plane made it to Rome, but its scheduled October 10 flight back to Perth was canceled. Qantas provided hotel accommodations and rebooked affected travelers on other flights within 48 hours of their original departure.
Passenger Says Bedbugs Were in Her Husband’s Shoes
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Hailey Bagnall was among the passengers who noticed the insects during the Sydney-to-Perth portion of the flight. She told 9News that they were on the airline’s blankets, people’s belongings and even the windows.
“They were in my husband’s shoes, crawling up our legs, crawling on our jumpers,” Bagnall said.
She also said the bugs kept appearing as they went to collect their bags. Another traveler told 9News that passengers had been woken by screaming, including a child calling out about the bugs.
The problems continued on the flight to Rome. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, passengers who complained about bites were given antihistamines on medical advice, but the plane eventually ran out.
Qantas Cancels Return Flight and Orders Deep Cleaning
Qantas told USA TODAY, in a statement, that the problem involved a small number of economy seats. The airline apologized to travelers booked on Saturday’s flight from Rome to Perth.
The company said its engineers and maintenance teams needed to carry out a deep clean of the aircraft, which meant taking it out of passenger service. The plane was later flown back to Australia without passengers for additional cleaning and other measures, according to USA TODAY.
Qantas said its aircraft cabins are cleaned regularly and receive disinsection treatments every 50 days as a precaution. The airline was still investigating what caused the bedbug problem.
