‘Rat On A Plane’ Forces Air India Flight To Turn Back

Mumbai: An Air India flight to London was aborted before take-off today at the Mumbai airport after the passengers saw a rat running around the cabin.

A flyer spotted the rodent when AI131 was flying over Tehran.

A standby aircraft in Mumbai later flew the passengers in it, to London. The crew conveyed the information to the pilots – Capt Rajesh Pathak and Capt Mukund Thorat.

Air India has said that the plane will be fumigated and the presence of a rodent was being investigated.

On Tuesday, Air India has announced two special schemes for passengers, an all-inclusive discounted fare for travel between metros and an offer to win an upgrade from economy and business class to first class on flights between Delhi and Mumbai.

In July, a plane en route to Milan had to return to Delhi after a suspected rat sighting.

Rats pose a serious threat to the safety of flights as they can chew through wires and damage internal controls.

DDCA has ordered to probe an inquiry regarding the incident urgently and submit to the chief, flight operations.

It was airborne for almost six hours and is said to have landed in Mumbai at 1:30 pm.

For passengers who were actually on the flight manifest, it meant a long delay to London.