Air India flight recalled due to suspected rat sighting

Air India Flight AI 131 was near Tehran when it was called back

An Indian flight was called back soon after it took off owing to a rat sighting inside the aircraft on Tuesday.

The rat was sighted in Air India’s Flight AI 131, which was flying from Mumbai to London, when flight was near Tehran, Iran. Although the airline maintained it was a suspected rat sighting, the authorities recalled the flight due to safety concerns.



Indian civil aviation authorities have ordered an inquiry into the incident, meanwhile Air India is also conducting a probe on its own.

This is not a first time such an incident has been reported. Earlier in July this year, a similar incident occurred when an Air India plane was forced to return to New Delhi two hours into a flight to Milan after a “suspected rat sighting” in the cabin.



Another Air India domestic flight was reportedly grounded in May in the northern town of Leh after crew spotted rats scurrying around the plane.

Last year, Air India staff complained of rat infestation before the plane was grounded at Delhi airport. The officials responded to this incident saying that there was “nothing extraordinary in rodents being found on planes”, and it was a “global problem”.

This article was originally published in India Today