Rat forces Air India international flight to make unscheduled landing

New Delhi: A rat forced an intercontinental flight of Air India to return to India after flying for four hours on Thursday.

The incident occurred when AI-123, with almost 200 people on board, was on its way from Delhi to Milan. Two hours into the flight when the Dreamliner was in Pakistan airspace, some passengers and cabin crew members spotted a rat in the cabin.

As according to rules, an aircraft on which a rat has been spotted has to land at the earliest, the airline was forced to return to Delhi. However, since the fuel in the aircraft had been filled according to the amount needed till Italy, the flight had to throw away a large amount of fuel to be light enough to ensure a safe landing.

"The Delhi-Milan flight on Thursday returned to Delhi due to a suspected rat sighting. Though the presence of the rodent was not confirmed, keeping passenger safety in mind, the aircraft was brought back. AI gives utmost importance to safety. Our engineering team is investigating the incident. However, the aircraft will be fumigated as per procedure." an Air India spokesperson said.