An Air India Express flight from the United Arab Emirates’s Sharjah encountered a minor accident at the Surat airport late on Thursday night after one of its wings hit a stationary excavator.
While no injuries were reported, a different set of passengers, who were to board the flight to reach Sharjah, were made to wait for a few hours and accommodated in a separate aircraft.
According to sources, the excavator was stationed at the spot since work is on at a parallel taxiway for the last few months.
On Thursday night at 11.15 pm, the Air India Express flight, which came from Sharjah carrying 160 passengers, successfully landed at the Surat airport runway. While the pilot was parking the flight, one of its wings hit the excavator stationed at the parallel taxiway.
Since the wing touched the top of the excavator, the impact was low and the flight’s crew members told the passengers not to worry as it was a minor accident.
After the information about the accident was passed to the Surat Airport authorities, the officials reached the spot and checked the aircraft and took care of the security measures of the passengers.
A separate set of passengers, which was to board the same flight to reach Sharjah, had to wait till around 4 am when a different aircraft was arranged to ferry them. The flight was supposed to leave Surat airport around 12.15 am.
Surat Airport director S C Bhalse said, “Nobody was injured in the accident. The flight, which met with a minor accident, was parked at the airport and another flight was brought in to take the passengers from Surat to Sharjah. We have set up an inquiry into the incident to find out why the excavator was left abandoned near the runway. At present, it is difficult to say anything.”
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 15-03-2024 at 16:17 IST