Rat forces London-bound Air India flight to return to Mumbai, probe ordered

Delhi: It may be a little difficult to believe but an Air India flight from Mumbai going to London had to return after a cabin crew member spotted a rat on board.

The AI Flight 131 was carrying around 240 passengers and was nearly halfway into its journey to London on Wednesday morning, as per media reports.

Reports quoted sources as saying that the Dreamliner aircraft had left Mumbai at 7 am was in the Tehran airspace when the rat was spotted.

It was airborne for nearly six hours and is said to have landed in Mumbai at 1:30 pm.

Now, AI has ordered a probe into the incident.

The pilot reportedly got in touch with the Mumbai air traffic control (ATC) tower and decided to turn back in accordance with safety rules laid down by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Later the aircraft was taken to a remote parking bay for an inspection after the passengers got down.

The passengers were then sent to London in another aircraft.