Sighting of a rat in a London-bound Air India plane by passengers on Wednesday forced the pilot to abort take ... Read More

MUMBAI: An Air India flight from Mumbai to London was forced to return three hours into its journey on Wednesday after a rat showed up in the passenger cabin.

A flyer spotted the rodent when AI131 was flying over Tehran. Since pushing onward to London would have taken an hour longer than it would to return to Mumbai, the commander decided to turn the flight back.

“A rat on board an aircraft calls for landing as a precautionary measure because it’s not known if it has nibbled on electronics or electrical wiring,” said a commander.

A standby aircraft in Mumbai later flew the passengers to London.

Rodents, in most cases, sneak into aircraft by hiding in carts carrying food, a source in the know of the aviation sector said. “Generally, after all passengers have board, an aircraft is ‘sealed’ and inert gas sprayed to ensure there are no rodents scurrying around.”

An Air India spokesperson said though the presence of the rodent was not confirmed, the aircraft was brought back keeping passenger safety in mind. “Our engineering team is investigating the incident. The aircraft will be fumigated,” the spokesperson said.

Read this story in Marathi