A Ryanair flight bound for Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport was forced to change aircraft after a massive swarm of mosquitoes invaded the cabin while passengers were already on board and ready for take-off from Milan-Malpensa airport. The incident occurred during the night of 2nd-3rd July on flight FR1423. The flight departure was delayed by approximately three hours, meaning passengers finally arrived in Alicante in the early hours of the morning after being transferred to a replacement plane.
The mosquitoes entered the aircraft through the open doors. Boarding had initially proceeded as normal, despite a minor initial delay, but passengers soon noticed numerous mosquitoes buzzing around the aircraft. The cabin doors remained open for several minutes, allowing the insects to continue entering and eventually spreading throughout the entire cabin.
An Italian passenger named Alice Piscitelli, who recorded the event and shared it on TikTok, said she had never seen so many mosquitoes together in her life, describing the atmosphere inside the plane and stating she thought they were going to eat her alive. The crew attempted to manage the situation before ultimately deciding to cancel the aircraft’s departure. Reports suggest that the staff turned off the interior lights and tried to eliminate the insects, but these measures were not sufficient. Other reports indicated that an extermination treatment was also attempted.
The situation escalated when one of the passengers informed staff that they were allergic to mosquito bites. After waiting inside the cabin for nearly half an hour, the airline ordered everyone to disembark for hygiene and safety reasons. All passengers had to return to the terminal, move to a completely different boarding gate, and then board an alternative plane to complete their journey to Alicante.
Cristina Scabbia, the lead singer of Lacuna Coil, happened to be on the flight on her way to perform at the Rock Imperio festival in Cartagena, and she also uploaded a video of the mosquito invasion to her social media accounts. Public records consulted by an Italian media outlet showed that the effective departure time was 00:35 hours, with the plane landing in Alicante at 02:11 hours, representing a delay of more than three hours compared to the scheduled schedule.
The flight to Alicante was not the only service affected that night at Malpensa airport. A second Ryanair flight bound for Naples suffered a similar issue due to the presence of mosquitoes and took off approximately two hours late. Some families chose to leave that plane before departure.