A Bangkok-bound Air India flight from Mumbai was delayed by over five hours on June 25 after hay was found stuck in one of the aircraft’s wings, the airline said in a statement. The issue was promptly addressed, and the aircraft was later cleared for operation, Air India confirmed. However, the Tata Group-owned airline did not disclose additional details, including the number of passengers and crew onboard, the aircraft type, scheduled departure time, or the exact duration passengers were stranded at the Mumbai airport, a PTI report said. However, according to flight tracking website flightradar24.com, the flight AI 2354, operated by an Airbus A320Neo plane, was scheduled to depart from Mumbai at 7.45 am. However, it departed after a delay of over five hours — around 1 pm. “AI2354 scheduled to operate from Mumbai to Bangkok on 25 June 2025 was held back as some hay was found stuck below the left wing of the operating aircraft,” Air India said in a statement on Friday. The issue was promptly addressed, and the aircraft was later cleared for operation, the airline said, adding that the source of the hay found beneath the wing could not be identified. It further stated that due to regulatory flight duty time limitations for the crew, the flight could not depart immediately after clearance. The service provider handling the aircraft at Mumbai airport has been instructed to investigate the matter, which has been duly reported to the safety regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Air India said in the statement. The passengers were disembarked and served refreshments, and the flight departed as soon as a fresh set of flight crew reported, the airline added. The incident came days after the DGCA detected multiple violations related to airlines, airports, aircraft maintenance works, and repeated defects in multiple cases during its surveillance at major airports, an exercise carried out in less than two weeks after the June 12 Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad. Without disclosing names of the airlines, airports and other entities in relation to the defects, the regulator had on Tuesday said surveillance covered multiple critical areas such as flight operations, airworthiness, ramp safety, Air Traffic Control (ATC), Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) systems, and pre-flight medical evaluations. The surveillance was done last week and the DGCA is stepping up efforts to strength the overall safety oversight of the aviation ecosystem. (With PTI inputs)