Lucknow, Sept. 23 -- An Indigo flight from Kanpur to Delhi (6E 2192) was delayed for over three hours on Sunday after a rat was spotted inside the aircraft, causing panic among passengers and crew. Kanpur airport director Sanjay Kumar confirmed the incident, stating that the decision to delay the flight was taken in the interest of passenger safety. "Until the rat was located and the aircraft declared completely safe, there was no question of allowing the flight to depart," he said. The incident occurred just before the scheduled departure at 2.55 pm. The flight had arrived from Delhi at 2.10 pm and was preparing for its return journey when a crew member noticed a rat inside the cabin. Several passengers also saw the rodent and began raising an alarm. Flight attendants and crew members quickly intervened to calm the situation and it was decided to halt the flight for safety reasons. All 172 passengers were deboarded and escorted to the airport lounge while a search operation was launched inside the aircraft. As a team of airline technical staff and ground crew carried out an intensive search of the aircraft, the rat was captured after three hours. The flight eventually took off for Delhi at 6.04pm. According to airport officials, 111 passengers continued their journey to Delhi on the delayed flight. Some opted to reschedule their travel, while others chose to cancel their tickets....