Bizarre accident at Kolkata airport damages wingtips of two planes

Launching a probe, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) de-rostered the IndiGo pilots involved in the accident, they said.

Kolkata: An IndiGo aircraft grazed the wings of an Air India Express plane at the Kolkata airport on Wednesday, leaving the wings of both aircraft damaged, officials said. The IndiGo flight was headed to Darbhanga, while the Air India Express plane was scheduled to leave for Chennai. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a probe and de-rostered two IndiGo pilots involved in the incident, a senior DGCA official said.

The IndiGo flight had 131 adults plus four infants on board, while there were 163 passengers inside the Air India Express aircraft.

Besides passengers, both aircraft had pilots and crew members on board, but no injuries to anyone have been reported. Air India in a statement said the aircraft has returned to the bay and further investigations are underway.

"The wingtip of a taxiing aircraft of another airline grazed one of our aircraft, which was stationary and awaiting clearance to enter the runway at Kolkata for a scheduled operation to Chennai," an Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement.

The aircraft has since returned to the bay and further investigation is underway, "for which we are coordinating with the regulator and airport authorities," the airline said. The incident took place on the taxiway near the runway around 11 am, sources at the airport said. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a statement that the wingtip vortices of both planes were badly damaged.

"A minor graze between a taxiing IndiGo aircraft and that of another carrier was reported from Kolkata Airport. The aircraft returned to bay for inspection and necessary action, as per protocol," IndiGo said in a statement.

Consequently, IndiGo flight 6E-6152 between Kolkata and Darbhanga has been delayed, it said, adding that an alternate aircraft has been arranged to minimise delay and inconvenience to passengers. IndiGo also said that "an incident report will be submitted to DGCA in due course, as per protocol".

The Air India Express passengers were being sent to Chennai in flights of various airlines, including its own, a spokesperson said.

The flight time for the passengers to Darbhanga was revised, an IndiGo spokesperson said.