I think this is considered to be one of the stranger reasons for a flight diversion … Bat flies around the Air India cabinOn Thursday, May 27, 2021, Air India flight AI105 was quite an adventure. A Boeing 777-300ER with the registration code VT-ALM was planned for the ultra long haul flight from Delhi to Newark. The plane took off from Delhi on schedule at 2:27 a.m., but a bat flew around the cabin about 30 minutes after take-off. Initial reports had suggested the crew discovered a dead bat carcass in business class, although the footage suggests the bat was alive and well during the incident. The pilots were made aware of this and decided to return to Delhi. This required going into a holding loop to drain fuel as the plane was too heavy to land. So the plane flew for almost two hours before returning to Delhi in the early hours of the morning. The plane is believed to have been cleaned and fumigated, although it appears Air India was still flying another plane to Newark. At 6:37 a.m., an Air India Boeing 777-300ER with the registration code VT-ALU took off for Newark. It made the 14 hour and 19 minute flight and landed at 11:25 a.m. which was 3 hours 30 minutes behind schedule. That delay isn’t bad at all considering the amount of time it takes to deflate and how long it takes to change aircraft. I also wonder if the same crew made the second flight? Either they did a great job finding a replacement crew quickly, or that crew had an extremely long day. This is an expensive detour …Initial reports had suggested that the flight was diverted because a bat carcass was found in the cabin, rather than because a live bat was flying around in the cabin. The first report confused me as I don’t know exactly what a diversion would have done. However, the fact that a live bat was flying around the cabin sheds much more light on this situation. I can see a bat get on a plane when it’s parked on the ground with the door open. I think the only surprising thing is that the bat didn’t fly around the cabin until 30 minutes after the flight. This is, of course, a delicate situation as diversions are expensive and time consuming, and fuel dumping alone has likely cost the airline tens of thousands of dollars (and that doesn’t even take into account the environmental impact). At the same time, I’m not sure if there is a better solution when a bat is flying around? I think there is no practical way for the crew to catch the bat so returning and starting over was probably the only option. Bottom lineA bat flying around in the cabin of an Air India Boeing 777 caused a stir. The Delhi to Newark flight eventually returned to India, which required draining of fuel and delayed the flight for several hours. I suspect there isn’t a really good alternative here, and if anything, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often. Via https://globalconnekt.com/bat-arranges-for-air-india-flight-to-be-diverted-to-newark/
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