Three parked Air India planes at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) in Delhi suffered minor damage on Sunday evening due to heavy wind and rain, after ground support equipment collided with the aircraft.
“The incident took place at 4.40 pm when the airport witnessed heavy wind and rain. Since there was no pre-information given by the Air Traffic Controller (ATC), ground staff had not prepared for such weather conditions,” said airport officials.
The narrowbody aircraft were parked at Terminal 2 of International Airport.
Due to the wind pressure, the equipment, including a step ladder, moved from its designated position and hit certain aircraft. Sources indicate that damage suffered by the aircraft was minor, with two out of the three aircraft already physically ready to fly.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had warned of wind speeds reaching up to 60 kmph in the area, but during that time, the actual wind speed recorded at Palam was much higher at 101 kmph.
Videos circulating of the incident show a step ladder moving quickly across the tarmac and various support personnel rushing towards it to bring it under control.
This comes five months after an incident where an Air India aircraft suffered substantial engine damage after sucking in a cargo container while on its way to the parking bay at Delhi airport.
Shortly after taking off, the New York-bound Flight AI 101 was forced to return to Delhi after Iran announced a sudden temporary closure of its airspace amid the escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The Airbus A350 aircraft landed safely on Runway 28 and was moving towards its parking bay, when the second engine ingested the cargo container that had accidentally fallen onto the taxiway, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA).
