Air India passenger reports of insect in his in-flight meal, airline left red-faced

New Delhi: A passenger on board an Air India flight from Kathmandu reportedly found a "housefly" in the meal served to him during the journey, but the airline said that no sample of the food item was submitted to it for verifying the claim.

The incident took place yesterday on the airline's flight from Kathmandu to Kolkata.

Air India said that since the aggrieved passenger did not provide a sample of the "insect-ridden" food item to it for examination, it could not verify the claim.

"AI clarifies that the incident about an 'insect' in the meal was brought to our notice by a passenger of KTM-CCU flight. However, upon request to examine, the food sample was not shared or returned to us for us to examine or investigate.

We are thus not able to confirm the veracity of the claim being made," the national carrier said in a statement.

"AI follows laid down procedures on such complaints and, hence, it was imperative to have the specimen for us to investigate," it added.

The airline was hit with a similar controversy last month when a passenger alleged that he had found a "lizard" in his on board meal. The claim, however, was later found to be "fake" by the AI authorities.