Experts say rodents on a plane can be a serious threat
India's national airline had to cut short an international flight and return to Delhi despite flying for four hours, when some passengers and cabin crew said they saw a rat on the plane.
Thursday's Air India flight to Milan was over Pakistan when it turned back.
On return, the aircraft was thoroughly searched but "we couldn't locate it", an Air India spokesman told the BBC.
Experts say rodents on a plane can pose a serious threat as they can chew wires and impact the control systems.
The aircraft, with 200 people on board, was two hours into the flight when some passengers and cabin crew members said they spotted a rat, the spokesman said.
"Keeping passenger safety in mind, the aircraft was brought back," he added. "On search, nothing was found in the plane. But the aircraft will be fumigated as per procedure."
The Dreamliner flight AI-123 had to first jettison a large amount of fuel to be light enough for a safe landing, The Times of India, external reported.
The paper says this is the second time this year that AI flights from Delhi have faced a rodent problem - in May, an aircraft had to be grounded in Leh after rats were spotted on it.
Experts say rats usually board aircraft through catering vans.
