Nightmare On Dreamliner: Rat Makes Air India Flight U-Turn To Mumbai After 2.5 Hours

Mumbai: Here's an example of a big problem in a small package - Air India passengers heading to London lived through a nightmare yesterday, as their flight had to be grounded, all because a rat had been spotted onboard. To the dismay of 256 fliers, this discovery was made two and a half hours into the flight, forcing the pilot to turn the aircraft to Mumbai again.

AI 131 - an Ahmedabad-Mumbai-London flight - was to take off from Mumbai at 7.30 am, but finally departed at 7.55 am. After the 25-minute delay, passengers settled in for the 9-hr flight to Heathrow airport. However, two and a half hours into the flight, just as the Dreamliner aircraft was coasting over east Iran, the pilot announced that they were returning to Mumbai due to a technical snag.

In truth, one of the crewmembers had spotted a rat onboard, and passed on the information to the pilot, who had no choice but to turn back, in case the rat gnawed through any of the aircraft controls. This is not the first instance of a flight being grounded due to rats onboard (see 'Pest problem'). In such cases, flights have to be grounded immediately to assess any damage, as rats can chew through crucial wiring or other equipment, leaving the aircraft out of control.

One of the 256 passengers on the flight, Kiran Joshi, said, "We were all worried when after flying for more than two and a half hours, the captain announced that we were going back to Mumbai due to a technical snag. Though we repeatedly asked crewmembers for the exact reason, they refused to reveal anything."

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The fliers were finally told about the rat once the flight had touched down in Mumbai at 12.37 pm - by this time, the fliers would have been halfway to London.

"It was only after we landed back in Mumbai that the airline's ground staff informed us there was a rat in the flight, which they feared might have damaged the wires of the aircraft," added Kiran.

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The passengers were served refreshments at the terminal and were assured that the flight would take off for London around 4 pm. However, this was pushed to 5.30 pm, and then to 6.35 pm, which is when the fliers finally took off, nearly 12 hours after the original scheduled departure time.

A flier, Sanjay Joshi was waiting for the flight with his family, but missed a business meeting because of the delay. "I had to cancel a meeting in London due to the flight delay. Since I am a business class passenger, there were no service issues at the terminal, but the delay has been very long for all of us," he said.

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However, many were more upset about the delay, especially since the airline eventually could not even find the rodent in the aircraft.

"I had a connecting flight from Heathrow airport which I will miss due to the prolonged delay. When I explained this to the airline staff, they had nothing to offer but apologies. It's not a joke to travel five hours only to return to the same airport. I have been troubled throughout the day," said a frustrated passenger.