A Roanoke family’s vacation turned into a nightmare after they had to deal with bed bugs on a flight. The incident took place in March 2025, when Romulo Albuquerque, an ophthalmologist, his wife, Lisandra Garcia, and their two children boarded a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight from the US to Europe.
On December 18, 2025, the family’s lawyers filed a lawsuit against KLM as well as Delta Airlines seeking $200,000 in compensatory damages for the physical and mental pain they had to endure. But how did Delta get involved in it?
Well, the Albuquerque family had planned a vacation to Serbia to meet their family and friends. They booked their tickets through Delta’s SkyMiles program and boarded the flight from Roanoke to Atlanta.
Then they boarded a KLM flight to reach Amsterdam, before taking a connecting flight to their final destination, Belgrade in Serbia.
In case you missed it: Family ambushed by bed bugs aboard transatlantic flight sues over ruined trip. They got bitten all over during a KLM/Delta flight, turning their vacation into a nightmare—now suing for $200K!
New fear unlocked 😱🛩️🪲 pic.twitter.com/DD7IoHMm7h
— US News Hub (@USHubNews) December 23, 2025
While their Roanoke to Atlanta trip went smoothly, the problem began during the Atlanta to Amsterdam flight when Mrs Garcia felt bugs crawling on her body. The family then observed bed bugs on their business class seats and alerted the cabin crew.
However, instead of being assisted, they were asked to keep mum so that other passengers on the flight would not panic, especially since it was night and most of the people were asleep. The family had a hard time dealing with the bugs, and all four members ended up suffering from multiple rashes.
According to the lawsuit, the tickets cost the Albuquerque family $8,800. Still, instead of comfortable travel, the family received “personal injuries, rashes, discomfort, itching, pain and suffering, inconvenience, anxiety, mental anguish, anger, fear, humiliation, and embarrassment.”
After dropping off in Amsterdam for their connecting flight, KLM staff provided the family with plastic bags to keep their infected clothes. However, the family’s troubles did not end there. In their lawsuit, the Albuquerques claimed that they could not even enjoy their vacation after reaching Siberia.
A Virginia family has filed a $200,000 federal lawsuit after alleging their KLM business class flight turned into a nightmare due to bed bugs in the cabin. The incident occurred on a transatlantic leg operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, booked via a Delta codeshare, while… pic.twitter.com/bJHnQzPEPV
— Flightdrama (@flightdrama) December 21, 2025
Instead, they suffered from red welts on their body for a long time, and had to dispose of multiple clothes, suspecting them to be infected with bugs. They got relief from the rashes only after they returned from the vacation, but Mrs Garcia still has marks on her lower back.
Talking about the family’s nightmarish experience on the flight, their lawyer, Matt Broughton, said in a statement to People, “Can [you] imagine being stuck on an airplane, which is basically like a tube, over the Atlantic in the middle of the night, being eaten by bugs and there’s staff telling you, ‘Just keep it quiet, don’t make a big deal’ because they didn’t wanna create pandemonium on this aircraft?”
Broughton and his fellow attorney, Jared Tuck, revealed that they wanted to settle with the airlines outside of the court, but did not get a response, which forced them to file a lawsuit.
Delta has now said that it had nothing to do with the flight where the incident actually happened and will respond to the litigation soon after reviewing the case. On the other hand, KLM has refused to comment on the matter and maintains that it will respond through legal channels.
