American Airlines crew sick after eating leftover meals on deadhead flight
Four American Airlines flight attendants fell ill with suspected food poisoning after consuming leftover passenger meals during a deadhead flight from Dallas to Rome, highlighting food safety concerns on non-revenue flights.
Four American Airlines flight attendants were reportedly struck down with food poisoning after eating leftover passenger meals. The crew members fell ill during a deadhead flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Rome over the weekend of October 3.
The flight attendants reported feeling sick after consuming leftover, unserved passenger meals while deadheading. No passengers were aboard the Boeing 777-200ER when the attendants ate the meals. The illness occurred after landing in Rome, with the pilots notifying the airline's operations center less than an hour after arrival.
Flight details and routing
The incident occurred on flight AA239, a positioning flight from the United States. The Boeing 777-200ER, registration N786AN, departed Dallas-Fort Worth at around 2:24 pm on October 3. It landed at Rome Fiumicino Airport at approximately 6:49 am local time on October 4.
Before the DFW to Rome leg, the plane had been ferried from New York JFK. American Airlines decided to ferry the plane without passengers from Dallas to Rome to get its schedule back on track. The aircraft remained grounded in Rome for nearly a full day before returning to DFW.
| Flight Number | Date (2026) | Route | Departure Time (UTC) | Landing Time (UTC) | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA239 | October 3 | Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Rome (FCO) | Not specified | 05:07 Oct 4 | Boeing 777-200ER (N786AN) |
| AA9601 | October 5 | Rome (FCO) to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 06:05 | Not specified | Boeing 777-200ER (N786AN) |
Operational and catering context
The meals consumed were likely from a prior Milan-to-New York flight and may have been over 24 hours old. The aircraft was not re-catered before the ferrying flight to Dallas. It is unclear whether the old catering from Milan to New York was removed beforehand.
Meals are typically transported in temperature-controlled vans and stored in chilled galley stowages. A potential issue arises if these chilled stowages are not working or have been inadvertently turned off. Proving food poisoning would require testing samples from the leftover food and the flight attendants. The pilots suggested the food was responsible for the sickness.
Aftermath and airline response
American Airlines canceled a regularly scheduled service from Rome to DFW on October 2, describing it as an "operational decision." The airline has not responded to requests for comment on the illness incident.
Despite the medical event, the aircraft was cleared for its scheduled return. It departed Rome on schedule as flight AA9601 to Dallas-Fort Worth. The pilots had transmitted a message stating "four of the deadheading flight attendants had fallen ill."
