London-bound Air India flight fails to take-off as ants found in business class

New Delhi - The Prince of Bhutan was a passenger on AI-111 flight from Delhi

An Air India flight could not take off from the Delhi airport as a swarm of ants was found in the business class of the flight on Monday. The Prince of Bhutan was a passenger on this flight.

“Immediately, the crew members informed the pilots about the swarm of ants on board and later the pilots of the aircraft decided not to take off,” a source told ANI on Monday.

The Air India AI-111 flight was scheduled for London (LHR) airport on time, but then business class passengers complained about ants in the business seat.

Later, the Air India flight was taken to the airport’s technical area for thorough screening. All 248 passengers deboarded.

“The flight was taken to the technical bay for checking. All passengers were deboarded and taken to the terminal building,” Delhi Airport Aviation Security said.

All the passengers, including the Prince of Bhutan, were forced to wait for over two hours at the International Terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport. All passengers were finally allowed to board the plane after going through immigration and security checks again.

“Due to a technical issue the aircraft was changed and has already left,” an Air India official said.

This year in May, the Air India flight that had taken off from Delhi airport early on Thursday returned after the pilot reported the presence of a bat to Air Traffic Control.