An Air India flight from Delhi to London Heathrow was delayed by more than three hours on Monday after an ant infestation was allegedly discovered in the Business Class cabin shortly before takeoff. Local media report that passengers had to be deplaned while Air India found another plane to use for the flight.
Air India flight AI111, operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was delayed by a total of three hours and 22 minutes following the discovery of the live ants on the plane.
All the passengers had already boarded and the plane was taxiing for takeoff when the ants made an appearance according to several sources. Air India has so far declined to comment on the matter.
In May, an Air India flight from Delhi to New York had to turn back shortly after takeoff after a bat started flying around the Business Class cabin. It’s not known how the bat got onboard or went undetected until after departure but the pilots had to jettison fuel before landing back into Dehli.
After arrival, the passengers were transferred to a new plane while engineers fumigated the aircraft with the bat onboard. Unfortunately, the bat died as a result of the fumigation.
And in September 2019, an Air India flight on a domestic route was delayed by three hours after a swarm of bees swarmed around the window of the flight deck before departure.
Authorities used water from an airport fire truck to wash away the bees and get the flight back underway.
Several months ago, a small bird managed to sneak onboard a United Airlines flight from Maui to Newark. Thankfully, the bird was spotted before departure and engineers managed to coax out the animal without causing any harm.
Passengers were delayed by just 30 minutes after the engineers dismantled ceiling panels to reveal where the animal was hiding.
