After two passengers on the San Francisco-Mumbai flight spotted the insects, the airline apologized and ordered a deep cleaning during a scheduled stop in Kolkata.
August 4, 2025: Two passengers on an Air India trip from San Francisco to Mumbai via Kolkata were shocked to see cockroaches on board. The airline admitted that these “unwanted and unchecked passengers” can sometimes get on planes even though they clean them regularly.
The event occurred on flight AI180. Air India said that two passengers were “unfortunately” troubled by a few little cockroaches during the first part of the trip. To make sure everyone had a comfortable trip, the airline’s crew quickly shifted the customers to new seats in the same cabin.
The plane had a deep cleaning when it was on a scheduled fuel stop in Kolkata to fix the problem before it flew on to Mumbai. An investigation has been ordered to find out what caused the situation and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Air India apologized for the trouble and explained the problem by saying, “Despite our regular fumigation efforts, insects can sometimes get into an aircraft while it is on the ground.” This event is just one more problem for the airline, which recently had to cancel a trip from Bhubaneswar to Delhi because the cabin was “too hot.”