British Airways Boeing 747 Taken Out Of Service After Bed Bugs Discovered On Board

An outbreak of bed bugs caused a British Airways passenger plane to be taken out of service.
On a flight from the US to Heathrow last week, staff are believed to have spotted the parasitic insects and logged the issue.
The outbreak caused one row in the economy section of the plane to be closed off during the Transatlantic flight.

One passenger was nipped at 30,000ft and others saw the bugs and their eggs.

Once the Boeing 747 had landed in London, British Airways launched an investigation. The aircraft was inspected and removed from the flight schedule while the issue was resolved and the plane was fumigated.

However, days later another 'severe' infestation was reported as the same plane flew from Cape Town to London, according to The Sun.

A spokesperson for British Airways said: 'Whenever any report of bed bugs is received, we launch a thorough investigation and, if appropriate, remove the aircraft from service and use specialist teams to treat it.

The presence of bed bugs is an issue faced occasionally by hotels and airlines all over the world.

British Airways operates more than 280,000 flights every year, and reports of bed bugs onboard are extremely rare.

Nevertheless, we are vigilant about the issue and continually monitor our aircraft.

Back in 2011, British Airways grounded two jumbo jets after a passenger complained of being badly bitten by bed bugs during two separate long-haul flights.

The airline fumigated one of the planes on which it confirmed there had been an infestation and apologised to the woman for her ordeal.

Businesswoman Zane Selkirk revealed her body was ‘crawling’ with bugs and ‘covered with bites’ during a ten-hour Transatlantic flight from Los Angeles to London Heathrow in January.

The 28-year-old believes she was also bitten on a second flight in February during a business trip from Bangalore in India to Heathrow.

BA grounded the two 350-seat Boeing 747-400s after computer industry executive Miss Selkirk – fed up by the poor response of the airline’s customer services – set up a website detailing her ordeal.

Small dark dots are the key to spotting bed bugs. Experts say the buttons on a mattress are a popular hiding place If the infestation is bad, small white dots - which are bedbug eggs - may be visible.

A faint almond smell may also be noticeable. A pest controller will need to remove the bugs as household insecticides are not strong enough.