Air India flight gets back to Delhi after pilot spots bat mid-air

The Air India flight to Newark (EWR) took off from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport at 2:20 am at its scheduled time.

The bat was found after the plane had been in the air for nearly 30 minutes, after which the flight's captain decided to fly the plane back to 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 the bat carcass was recovered from the aircraft after fumigation was carried out.

"Air India B777-300ER aircraft VT-ALM operating Flight AI - 105 (Delhi- Newark) was involved in air-turn-back due to bat reported in the cabin by cabin crew after departure. Fuel was jettisoned and the aircraft landed safely at Delhi. After landing fumigation was carried out and a dead bat carcass was retrieved from seat 8DEF area," a senior DGCA official told ANI.

The bat was recovered dead from the business class area of the plane.

The incident has been reported to Air India's flight safety department and a detailed report has been sought from the engineering team, said the report.

"The probable reason/cause may be loading vehicles like those for catering because all the time rats/bats come from their vehicle only," an Air India official told ANI.

Another Air India flight AI-105 flew the passengers to Newark and landed at 11:35 am local time, the ANI report stated.