Cockroaches on Board: San Francisco-Mumbai Air India Flight Suffers Mid-Air Hygiene Scare
Passengers on Air India's San Francisco-Mumbai flight spotted cockroaches mid-air, prompting a deep cleaning during the Kolkata stopover. The aircraft later continued to Mumbai.
New Delhi: An Air India flight from San Francisco to Mumbai via Kolkata sparked alarm in the early hours of Monday after passengers discovered cockroaches on seats and food trays during the mid-air leg of the journey.
The aircraft, operating as Flight AI180, landed at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata around 2:00 AM for a scheduled fuel stop and was temporarily taken out of service for a deep cleaning.
An Air India spokesperson said, “On flight AI180 from San Francisco to Mumbai via Kolkata, two passengers were unfortunately bothered by the presence of a few small cockroaches on board. Our cabin crew, therefore, relocated the two passengers to other seats in the same cabin, where they were comfortable thereafter.
During the flight's scheduled fuel stop in Kolkata, our ground crew promptly conducted a deep cleaning process to address the issue. The same aircraft subsequently departed in time for Mumbai. Air India will be undertaking a comprehensive investigation to determine the source and the cause of this incident and implement measures to prevent recurrence. Despite our regular fumigation efforts, insects can sometimes enter an aircraft during ground operations.”
In a separate incident, another Air India A320 aircraft, operating as flight AI2576 from Delhi to Vijayawada, rejected its take-off on August 4, 2025, after a procedural error was discovered.
Published By : Moumita Mukherjee
Published On: 4 August 2025 at 11:07 IST