New Delhi: A Patna-bound Jet Airways flight hit its wing on the wingtip of another flight headed for Srinagar on Sunday at the Delhi airport. The damaged aircraft was detained as the pilots were rescheduled for an investigation by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
One flight was scheduled for a 2:45 pm departure to Patna, the other was flight had a scheduled departure of 2:50 pm to Srinagar when the incident occurred. DGCA officials informed that both the aircraft belonged to Jet Airways, reported The Hindu.
Both the aircraft were given the same taxi clearance by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at 2:40 pm allowing them to move. The Srinagar flight was ahead in line, but the pilot of the Patna flight requested a change in the position, given by the ATC.
As the aircraft moved forward, overtaking the one ahead, it hit the wingtip of the Srinagar flight causing its breakage. As both of the aircraft suffered the damage, passengers were made to off-board the cabins, according to the rules of DGCA.
“The incident indicates that the pilot of the Patna flight was not cautious enough in maintaining separation. We have initiated a probe,” a DGCA official said. Delhi Police’s DCP (airport) Sanjay Bhatia informed that no passenger was injured in the incident. On board, the Srinagar flight were a group of 40 tourists from Thailand who said they were now waiting for another aircraft to be made available.
In a statement, a Jet Airways spokesperson said, “Two Jet Airways flights – 9W 603 from Delhi to Srinagar and 9W 730 from Delhi – Patna, were involved in a ground incident during taxi while preparing for departure from IGI Airport on May 07, 2017. All guests and crew on board both aircraft are safe and are being taken to the terminal for re-accommodation on subsequent flights. The aircraft are currently being inspected by the Jet Airways engineering team. The airline has reported the event to the regulatory authorities. Both sets of the crew have been the de-rostered pending investigation.”