Mid-Air Turnback, Ground Impact: Air India A350 incident at IGI Airport

An A350 aircraft incident of Air India happened on Thursday at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), New Delhi, when the engine of the aircraft got hit by a ground container after the plane returned from an international flight.

The operation flight of the aircraft was from Delhi to New York, but it had to come back soon after takeoff because of the sudden closure of the airspace over Iran.

Aircraft diverted mid-air on safety grounds

Add Zee Business as a Preferred Source

The Air India A350 aircraft had been airborne from Delhi and was headed to New York when the airline got the message of the sudden closing of Iranian airspace.

For the sake of passenger safety and the needs of airline operations, the flight was told to come back to Delhi. The aircraft landed safely at IGI Airport without having any issues related to the return journey.

Incident occurs during taxiing in dense fog

Air India reported that after the aircraft had safely landed, it was moving on the runway in very poor visibility conditions caused by the fog.

While the aircraft was taxiing, a ground container came into contact with the right engine.

The impact happened in the area of the engine while the aircraft was on the ground, not during flight operations.

Aircraft shifted to parking, technical teams deployed

Airport and airline authorities acted immediately after the incident. The plane was directed to the parking area for further checkings

Ground staff and technical teams were sent to the site to evaluate the condition and to make the plane secure.

A spokesperson for Air India characterized the incident as an instance of a plane hitting a foreign object.

The spokesperson stated that a thorough technical investigation has already been started to find out how the container got in contact with the plane and whether there was any lapse in procedures. The airline stressed that safety is the most important thing to them.

As a safety precaution, the aircraft will not be flying for the time being. This measure has been adopted so that engineers and maintenance personnel can perform extensive checks and repairs as required before the aircraft is allowed to take part in future operations.

Air India has warned that some flights on A350 routes may be delayed or put on a different schedule because of this issue.

The video/images available on social media, allegedly shows the plane on the runway and the people working on it. Also, the visible marks near the engine area point out the place where the impact occurred when the container hit the plane.

Visuals show damage near the engine of an Air India A350 aircraft at IGI Airport.

Nevertheless, airline representatives have avoided passing any judgment on the credibility of the video and have recommended the public to wait for the official updates.

In the event in question, there were no injuries reported amongst the passengers or crew members. All the passengers were unharmed and the airline workers duly applied the recommended safety measures during the incident.

The whole episode has again thrown light on the necessity for rigorous ground-handling standards to be observed at all times, particularly in situations with very poor visibility like heavy fog. The authorities concerned are likely to go through the safety measures to ensure that no such things happen again.

Air India has guaranteed the people traveling by air that they would be kept informed with the news once the probe is over and the aircraft has passed all the necessary checks.