Bed bugs infestation forces BA to ground plane

Bed Bugs Attack Airline Passenger

Bed bugs, not safety issues or  a terror scare, were the culprit this time. British Airways grounded one of its 747 jets after a female passenger was bitten repeatedly during her two flights in January and February this year.

Zane Selkirk, 28, wrote in a web site that bed bugs were crawling from her inflight blanket in a flight from Los Angeles to Bangalore, India. She was bitten all over her body and some of the creatures clung to her shirt.

"I discovered bugs crawling literally all over me, multiple generations of bugs were found to be infesting my seat and headrest, and, to top it off, I was berated by the unapologetic purser," she narrated her ordeal on her web site ba-bites.com.

She said she talked to BA representatives in Bangalore but apparently none "had the authority to help customers."

Selkirk endured another attack of the bed bugs on her flight back to London. "On the return journey, I left my 10-hour flight to find my body covered with 90 bug bites," she said, adding that the creatures were scampering over the inflight entertainment screen.

"The worst part was the nonexistent customer service throughout the 10-day ordeal," she said.

Upon arriving in London, she talked to BA representatives again who also were not able to assist her on the matter.

British Airways later sent a written apology to Selkirk. The airline said they will be investigating the incident. It said the 747 plane has been grounded in order to eradicate the pesky bed bugs.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Tuesday March 01 2011, 5:02 AM EST. Ref: AOL. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0