Rat spotted on Air India Delhi-San Francisco flight; gets delayed by 9 hours
Air India flight no AI 173 which was supposed to take off at 2.30 am on Sunday had to be fumigated before the passengers could board. The plane eventually took off after a nine hour delay on Sunday afternoon.
- Aug 28, 2017,
- Updated Aug 28, 2017 1:59 PM IST
Rats can cause menace. Air India can vouch for it since it had to delay its flight from Delhi to San Fransico by over nine hours after a rodent was spotted on the plane. According to The Times of India report, Air India flight no AI 173 which was supposed to take off at 2.30 am on Sunday had to be fumigated before the passengers could board. The plane eventually took off after a nine hour delay on Sunday afternoon.
The rat was spotted when the airplane was taxiing. The delay was so long that even the crew had to be replaced due to time constraint. Even though the fumigation was complete in six hours, it reportedly took the airline a couple of more hours to find a replacement crew.
While the presence of a rat on a plane may not sound very dangerous, there could be risks. "Rats on board an aircraft can lead to a catastrophe if they start chewing up electric wires of a plane. If that happens, pilots will have no control on any system on board leading to a disaster," The Times of India quoted a senior commander as saying. Rats can apparently find their way into a plane through catering vans. An official said this was a "universal phenomenon" as rats come for the food that gets dropped in catering vans.
The Air India flight is one of the longest non-stop flight by a commercial aircraft covering a distance of 15,300 km. The flight was almost fully booked with 172 economy and 34 business class passengers.
Meanwhile, an unclaimed bag was found on a seat of an Air India flight Monday morning at Delhi airport causing concerns.
Just when Air India's flight AI-678 was preparing to fly from Delhi to Mumbai, passengers located an unattended bag inside the cabin. The cabin crew called out for the owner of the bag but no one turned up to own it following which the ground staff was informed. Air India rejected reports of there being a bomb scare.
Rats can cause menace. Air India can vouch for it since it had to delay its flight from Delhi to San Fransico by over nine hours after a rodent was spotted on the plane. According to The Times of India report, Air India flight no AI 173 which was supposed to take off at 2.30 am on Sunday had to be fumigated before the passengers could board. The plane eventually took off after a nine hour delay on Sunday afternoon.
The rat was spotted when the airplane was taxiing. The delay was so long that even the crew had to be replaced due to time constraint. Even though the fumigation was complete in six hours, it reportedly took the airline a couple of more hours to find a replacement crew.
While the presence of a rat on a plane may not sound very dangerous, there could be risks. "Rats on board an aircraft can lead to a catastrophe if they start chewing up electric wires of a plane. If that happens, pilots will have no control on any system on board leading to a disaster," The Times of India quoted a senior commander as saying. Rats can apparently find their way into a plane through catering vans. An official said this was a "universal phenomenon" as rats come for the food that gets dropped in catering vans.
The Air India flight is one of the longest non-stop flight by a commercial aircraft covering a distance of 15,300 km. The flight was almost fully booked with 172 economy and 34 business class passengers.
Meanwhile, an unclaimed bag was found on a seat of an Air India flight Monday morning at Delhi airport causing concerns.
Just when Air India's flight AI-678 was preparing to fly from Delhi to Mumbai, passengers located an unattended bag inside the cabin. The cabin crew called out for the owner of the bag but no one turned up to own it following which the ground staff was informed. Air India rejected reports of there being a bomb scare.