EasyJet flight to Manchester grounded after pilot bitten by insect

AN easyJet flight was grounded when its pilot was bitten — by a mosquito.

The budget airline’s Airbus A320 was invaded by a swarm of bugs at Amsterdam ahead of its flight to Manchester.

Passengers had to wait for more than five hours while it was deep-cleaned before they could board.

Among those held up was veterinary nurse Rachel Green, who said: “The departure time on the board kept going up and up. Eventually, the pilot came out and told us that he’d been bitten by a mosquito in the cockpit, so he wanted the entire plane deep-cleaned in case there were more bugs.”

The hour-long flight to Manchester was due to depart Schiphol airport at 5.05pm on September 25.

But the only information off­ered to passengers was that it was delayed due to technical difficulties.

It did not land until 10.30pm.

The airline later confirmed cleaning was to deal with an infestation.

But Rachel, 27, is furious that passengers’ only compensation was a £3.90 food voucher.

She said: “They could’ve flown another plane out to us.”

EasyJet said: "To be clear at no point was the flight crew’s ability to operate the flight compromised, and the captain made the decision to operate as soon as the issue was resolved. 

“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”