(Image source from: Rats ground Air India plane})

Did you ever think that rats can halt something like an aircraft? Well they actually did? An Air India plane had to be grounded after the crew members saw rats scurring around in the cabin.

The Air India plane was headed to Air India from New Delhi, when staff realised that there was rodent infestation, according to reports.

Airbus A-321, flying as AI 021 from Kolkata had landed at Delhi's IGI airport. After the passengers alighted, crew members realised that there were rats scurring around in the rear part of the aircraft cabin. So the aircraft put out of service instead of preparing it for the next flight. The plane was taken to a remote bay for fumigation by central warehousing corporation personnel to remove all the rodents on board.

An airline official reportedly said that rats on an aircraft can be dangerous as they may chew-up any of the electric wires. In such a case the pilots would have have no control over the system on board leading to a catastrope.

The airline staff was reportedly not ready to comment on the issue. But an Air India official spoke on condition of anonymity that rats were a "common phenomenon" on planes worldwide. So its not just an Indian phenomena, you can "get in anywhere," he added.

The rats come through the catering vans into the plane with the smell of food, said the official.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that an Air India carrier has been grounded by rodent infestation.

In February rats had delayed a domestic flight from Mumbai by nearly two hours. Earlier in 2009, a flight destined to Toronto was found to be infested by rats and had to be delayed for 11 hours as staff ran around to catch the rodents.

(AW: Pratima Tigga)