Qantas flight grounded after rats found on board

A flight crew checking the cabin of a Qantas plane before takeoff found rats in a compartment holding medical equipment, grounding the plane for more than a day, a spokeswoman said Thursday. Crews did a visual check of the plane on Tuesday afternoon and found no more rats or any damage. The rodents had been in a cabinet holding a defibrillator. The plane returned to service Thursday morning. Passengers had not yet boarded the Sydney-to-Brisbane flight and were instead put on another plane. A Qantas spokeswoman called the incident "very unusual." She declined to be named, citing policy. But Scott Connolly of the Transportation Workers Union told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio that members have had concerns about hygiene and sanitation on Qantas flights. The spokeswoman denied that was the case. "This is a very irregular occurrence," she said. From / Gulf News