NEW DELHI: An incoming SpiceJet aircraft, heading to the parking bay at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, collided with a stationary Akasa Air plane on Thursday, resulting in damage to the two planes.
None of the nearly 300 passengers on board both Spicejet and Akasa Air aircraft were hurt or injured.
Both the aircraft involved belong to the Boeing 737 series, and have been grounded after suffering damage.
The incident happened in the apron area of Terminal 1 around 2.15 pm. The right winglet of Spicejet's SG 124 was damaged while the left-hand horizontal stabiliser of Akasa Air QP 1406 was damaged.
According to airport sources, the SpiceJet flight arrived from Leh and was taxiing to the parking bay. Meanwhile, an Akasa Air aircraft had left the parking bay and was waiting in the apron area to depart for Hyderabad. “The incoming flight of Spicejet collided with the aircraft around 2.15 pm. Both aircraft suffered damage and have been grounded,” the source said.
The Aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said in a statement, "On 16.04.2026 Spicejet winglet of B-737-700 aircraft, VT-SLB, taxiing in the allocated parking bay after operating flight SG-124 (Leh-Delhi) at Terminal 1 has hit the Horizontal tail surface (HTS) of Akasa B-737 aircraft positioned on the apron after pushback for operating flight on sector (Delhi-Hyderabad). Due to impact, the RH winglet of Spicejet aircraft and HTS of Akasa aircraft is damaged."
DGCA is carrying out further investigation, it added.
The concerned Air Traffic Control (ATC) officer and the Pilot in Command and the co-pilot of Spicejet have been taken off duty pending investigation, DGCA said.
A SpiceJet spokesperson said, “On April 16, a SpiceJet B737-700 aircraft was involved in a ground occurrence while taxiing at Delhi airport, resulting in damage to its right winglet and the left-hand horizontal stabiliser of another aircraft belonging to a different airline. The SpiceJet aircraft has been grounded at Delhi.”
Akasa Air said in a statement, “Akasa Air’s aircraft operating flight QP 1406 from Delhi to Hyderabad had to return to the bay on April 16. Preliminary information indicates that Akasa’s aircraft was stationary when another airline’s aircraft made contact with it.”
Akasa Air further said, “All passengers and crew were safely disembarked, and our ground teams are making alternative arrangements to fly our passengers to Hyderabad at the earliest.”
In line with established protocols, the relevant authorities have been informed, and the matter is under investigation, the statement added.
Detailing about the damaged parts, aviation expert Captain Mohan Ranganathan told this newspaper, "Winglet is the small winglike structure at the two wing tips which will be bent at an angle at the tips. Horizontal stabiliser is in the tail to which the elevators join on either side of the rudder."