New Delhi: One of Air India's Dreamliners has an unwelcome tenant. Spotted off and on, the rat has disrupted flights at least thrice this month, the last instance on Saturday. The aircraft, worth Rs 1,500 crore (at current prices), has been fumigated repeatedly and rat traps have been laid but there is no shooing away the rodent. Either it's one rat that has stood its ground, say sources, or new ones have hopped aboard.
The last 'sighting' was on Saturday morning when the Boeing 787 was flying from Melbourne to Delhi. The aircraft (VT-ANV) took off from Melbourne as AI309 just before 6am (India time). After flying for about six hours, the rodent was sighted and the aircraft diverted to Singapore where it landed after 1pm. The plane has been grounded there and AI was making alternate arrangements to fly the passengers to Delhi.
Sources said the first time the rat was sighted on the aircraft was about two weeks ago when it was flying from Birmingham to Delhi. Then, five days ago, on April 11, passengers were boarding the aircraft at Delhi to fly to Frankfurt when the rodent surfaced again.
17/04/16 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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The last 'sighting' was on Saturday morning when the Boeing 787 was flying from Melbourne to Delhi. The aircraft (VT-ANV) took off from Melbourne as AI309 just before 6am (India time). After flying for about six hours, the rodent was sighted and the aircraft diverted to Singapore where it landed after 1pm. The plane has been grounded there and AI was making alternate arrangements to fly the passengers to Delhi.
Sources said the first time the rat was sighted on the aircraft was about two weeks ago when it was flying from Birmingham to Delhi. Then, five days ago, on April 11, passengers were boarding the aircraft at Delhi to fly to Frankfurt when the rodent surfaced again.
17/04/16 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
