A domestic flight in India was delayed for nearly 12 hours after a
rat was spotted scampering around the aircraft, news reports and
officials said on Tuesday.
Air India flight AI-952 was preparing for take-off from the southern
city of Hyderabad for Vishakapatnam, a coastal city, early on Sunday,
when the rodent was seen running around the cabin, the Times of India
daily reported.
Helpless passengers for the flight were forced to stay put at Hyderabad
airport all through the day until airline staff managed to get rid of
the rat, the report said.
An Air India official confirmed the incident to dpa, adding that it was being investigated but gave no further details.
The passengers continued on their journey only after staff carried out a
fumigation to sanitise the flight and searched for any possible damage
caused by the rat.
The report said there were ugly scenes at the airport as infuriated
passengers checked with airline staff when their flight would take off.
Several among them took to social media to express their amusement and anger over the incident.
Rats on planes are reported occasionally and are thought to enter the aircraft most frequently through catering deliveries.
In 2017, a New Delhi-San Francisco Air India flight was delayed after a
rodent was found on board while the aircraft was taxiing prior to
take-off.
Source;(dpa/NAN)