Air India Flight Returns Mid-Air To Delhi After Bat Found In Plane

The bat was spotted after the plane was in the air for about 30 minutes.

In an unusual incident, an Air India flight which had taken off from Delhi airport early on Thursday returned back after the pilot reported presence of bat to Air Traffic Control (ATC). Air India flight to Newark (EWR) left Delhi's IGI Airport at 2:20 am as scheduled. The bat was spotted after the plane was in the air for about 30 minutes. The flight captain decided to take the plane back to the original base (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)," Air India officials told ANI. DGCA officials said fumigation was carried out and bat carcass was retrieved from the aircraft.