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Wing collision at IGIA, accident averted

The incident happened around 2 am, when the Adis Ababa-bound Ethiopian Airlines' wing, while pushing back for take off, collided with an Air India's Airbus A320, which was parked nearby.

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Wing tip collision at the IGIA on Wednesday
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A major accident was averted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) during the early hours on Wednesday when an Ethiopian airlines aircraft collided with another plane of Air India while being pushed back near runway, minutes before its take off. None of the 200 passengers were hurt in the incident. Similar incidents have taken place at the IGIA before.

The incident happened around 2 am, when the Adis Ababa-bound Ethiopian Airlines' wing, while pushing back for take off, collided with an Air India's Airbus A320, which was parked nearby.

"The wings of the two planes collided with each other. The collision was such that the right wing of the Ethiopian aircraft damaged the Air India aircraft's left wing. While over 200 passengers of Ethiopian Airline had to be shifted to a hotel in Aerocity, till there aircraft arrived in Delhi, the Air India plane had to be grounded temporarily," said a senior airport authority official.

The passengers in the Ethiopian Airline's plane included a number of foreign tourists and a band of musicians, whihc was scheduled for an international performance but were left stranded.

Dorectorate General of Civil Aviation was also alerted about the incident and an inquiry is being conducted into the matter. Both aircraft were attended by the technical experts of their respective airlines following the accident.

"On August 9, 2017, our B-767 aircraft registration number ET-AMG, while preparing for a regular Delhi–Addis Ababa bound flight number ET687, had a minor ground incident of wing tip collision with Air India A320 aircraft during push back at Delhi's IGI Airport. The necessary repair work is being conducted on the aircraft as per our safety and maintenance procedures. As always safety and comfort of our customers is our first priority and we flew a substitute aircraft to continue with the flight service for our valued customers. We would like to apologize to our passengers on the flight for the inconvenience caused," Ethopian Airlines said in a statement later.

This, however, is not the frst time when two aircraft missed crashing with each other by inches. In April 2017, a near-collision was averted when a ready to take-off Air India plane was called back to the bay from runway, to make way for an already landing IndiGo aircraft, at the IGIA. This was third such incident reported from the airport in past five months where two aircraft had a narrow miss, with IndiGo's involvement in all the three.

On December 26, 2016, a SpiceJet and an IndiGo plane also had a similar face off. While the IndiGo flight had arrived from Lucknow and was taxiing at the runway, a departing SpiceJet flight destined for Hyderabad came on the same runway, following alleged miscommunication between the pilots and the ATC, leading to a face off.

Again, on February 1, 2017, a Vishakhapatnam-bound IndiGo aircraft entered a wrong taxiway at the IGIA, where a Jet Airways plane was already parked.

Past horrors at IGI

April 2017 - A near-collision was averted when a ready to take-off Air India plane was called back to the bay from runway, to make way for an IndiGo aircraft to land.
February 1, 2017 - A Vishakhapatnam-bound IndiGo aircraft entered a wrong taxiway where a Jet Airways plane was already parked.
December 26, 2016 - An IndiGo flight, after landing from Lucknow, was taxiing at the runway when a departing SpiceJet flight destined for Hyderabad came on the same runway.

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