Air India Grounds Plane to Deal With Rat Problem (Again)

Critical avionics and the rodent’s penchant for chewing on wires make rats on a plane far more serious than an infestation on the ground.

Air India has pulled an Airbus A320 out of service to evict some furry stowaways. According to a Daily Mail report, the flag carrier of India grounded the aircraft after an onboard rat sighting.

Dealing with the infestation has been complicated by the unique features of Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport (IXL), where the plane was en route to when the unwelcome rodent was discovered. With an altitude of more than 10,500 feet above sea level, the airport in the Himalayas of Northern India is among the highest commercial airports in the world. The airport’s remote location and very limited hours of operation made it difficult to bring extermination equipment in to fumigate the aircraft and remove the well-traveled pest.

“The aircraft will be fumigated and kept locked for a couple of hours. After that it will hopefully be flown back to Delhi in the little window of operation that Leh offers,” Air India officials told the Mail in a statement.

The rat situation isn’t just creepy, it’s also potentially hazardous. In addition to possibly spreading disease, rats hitching a ride on an aircraft can chew through wires, damage critical computer systems and even wedge themselves into tight areas, crippling mechanics.

This isn’t the first time Air India has had to ground a passenger jet to deal with rat infestations in recent months. In 2014, Air India reported four separate rat sightings on its planes. In one case, a pilot reported finding a rat on the flight deck. In August of last year, an Air India plane was grounded after the crew reported “a large number” of rats hitching a ride aboard a flight.

[Photo: iStock]