NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A domestic flight in India was delayed by nearly 12 hours after a rat was spotted flying around the plane, news reports and officials said on Saturday.
The Air India AI-952 was preparing to take off from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam, a coastal city, early on Sunday when the rodent was sighted, The Times of India reported. It spins in the cockpit.
The report said the desperate passengers were forced to stay at Hyderabad airport all day until the airline staff managed to get rid of the rat. An airline official confirmed it was being investigated, but gave no further details.
The passengers continued their journey only after the staff carried out a steaming operation to clear the plane and look for any possible damage the rat had caused.
The report pointed out that disturbing scenes occurred at the airport, where angry passengers followed with the airline's employees to know when their flight started.
Rats are reported to be on board from time to time and are believed to enter the aircraft frequently during food delivery. In 2017, a flight from New Delhi to San Francisco was postponed to Air India after a rodent was found on board as it moved down the runway before takeoff.