Photo: opuskinetic.com
United Airlines has somewhat of a reputation when it comes to strange or disturbing things happening on their flights, but this one will most definitely make your skin crawl.
Charlotte Burns was on a United flight from Venice, Italy, to Newark, New Jersey, when she noticed that her seat was crawling with “large, fat” ants. And that was just the beginning of what she calls “ant-mageddon” in a Twitter thread.
She says she first noticed isolated ants crawling on her seat, before takeoff. She tried to alert a flight attendant but was kindly asked to wait until the plane was in the air and the seatbelt light was off. She did exactly that.
Then, Burns spoke to the flight attendant again, but this time, she was asked to hold on until the meal service was over. She did that too, all the while observing that the number of ants walking freely in the cabin was multiplying.
When the problem was finally attended to, it was done so with wet wipes.
“Me and the middle aisle guy are standing up like we are the ant enforcers while the senior cabin crew guy rocks up, armed with… a flashlight and a wet cloth. Sure, ant-mageddon might be undone with a lemony rag, why not,” Burns writes.
They eventually found the source of the ant invasion: another passenger’s carry-on bag, which had been stowed away in the overhead compartment and hadn’t even been zipped shut. The flight attendant took it out and opened it on an empty seat, which made “ants ants ants spill out, running in every which direction.”
For her trouble, Burns was offered 3 types of white wine as compensation and was asked if she was “going to do anything” because, a cabin crew member said, the ants “came from his bag, they weren’t on the plane.”
In a statement, United acknowledged the incident but insisted the ant invasion was successfully limited to only one portion of the cabin. They also notified customs and agriculture immediately upon landing, they say. No word on whether the passenger has been reprimanded for bringing live ants in his carry-on, which is not allowed on most airlines.
She says she first noticed isolated ants crawling on her seat, before takeoff. She tried to alert a flight attendant but was kindly asked to wait until the plane was in the air and the seatbelt light was off. She did exactly that.
Then, Burns spoke to the flight attendant again, but this time, she was asked to hold on until the meal service was over. She did that too, all the while observing that the number of ants walking freely in the cabin was multiplying.
When the problem was finally attended to, it was done so with wet wipes.
“Me and the middle aisle guy are standing up like we are the ant enforcers while the senior cabin crew guy rocks up, armed with… a flashlight and a wet cloth. Sure, ant-mageddon might be undone with a lemony rag, why not,” Burns writes.
They eventually found the source of the ant invasion: another passenger’s carry-on bag, which had been stowed away in the overhead compartment and hadn’t even been zipped shut. The flight attendant took it out and opened it on an empty seat, which made “ants ants ants spill out, running in every which direction.”
For her trouble, Burns was offered 3 types of white wine as compensation and was asked if she was “going to do anything” because, a cabin crew member said, the ants “came from his bag, they weren’t on the plane.”
In a statement, United acknowledged the incident but insisted the ant invasion was successfully limited to only one portion of the cabin. They also notified customs and agriculture immediately upon landing, they say. No word on whether the passenger has been reprimanded for bringing live ants in his carry-on, which is not allowed on most airlines.
On the plane from Venice to New York when a large, fat ant walks over my pillow. Hmmm. That's odd.
— charlotte burns (@charlieburns) June 17, 2019
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