In a bizarre incident, a US-bound Air India flight reported the presence of a bat in the business class area last week. The Air India flight which had taken off from Delhi airport had to return after the pilot reported the presence of a mammal to Air Traffic Control (ATC).
The bat was spotted after the plane to Newark left Delhi`s IGI Airport was in the air for about 30 minutes. The plane was then taken back to Delhi. "AI-105 DEL-EWR returned back to base (Delhi) after departure due to this local standby emergency was declared. On arrival, it was learnt that a bat was seen inside the cabin by crew members. Wildlife staff were called to catch and remove the bat from cabin. The aircraft landed safely at around 3:55 am. Later flight was declared Aircraft on Grounded (AoG)," officials of Air India were quoted as saying.
While, the DGCA officials informed that fumigation was carried out and the carcass was retrieved from the aircraft. The matter was reported to the airline`s flight safety department for a detailed probe. The airline has asked the engineering team for a detailed report on the incident. Passengers were shifted to another plane and Air India flight AI-105 landed in Newark.
