NEW DELHI: Three parked Air India aircraft were taken out of operation after ground support equipment collided into them following heavy winds and rain on Sunday evening at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi.
The incident occurred around 4.40 pm in the parking bays located near Terminal 2 of the IGIA. No injuries were reported as there were no staff in the parking bay at the time.
All the aircraft involved were A320s which can accommodate between 156 and 162 passengers depending on the kind of seating inside, said a source. No one was present inside any of the planes.
Another source said, "There were sudden, powerful winds and heavy rains. There was no alert from our Air Traffic Control about such weather conditions. Three ground support equipment, two of which were a trestle and a step ladder belonging to Indigo, were near the aircraft and were hurled out of their position due to the weather. They ended up colliding with the parked planes. The equipment was massively damaged."
Another source said that one Air India aircraft suffered substantial damage. "The stairwell (used for boarding) had been hit badly. It will be grounded for some time to carry out an extensive check-up and repairs. The other two aircraft have suffered minor damage and will be kept off operations for a day or two only."
There was another version going around that five aircraft were damaged. However, this could not be confirmed by airport sources.
IndiGo, meanwhile, claimed that its equipment was not involved. "Our step ladder was stopped by our staff before it could hit any aircraft," claimed an airline source.