An Air India aircraft damaged after it hit an airport fence during takeoff continued to fly for over four hours with 130 passengers and six crew members onboard.
The Dubai bound Boeing 737 hit the boundary wall of the airport while taking off from the southern city of Trichy in Tamil Nadu at 1:30 am last Friday.
It was then diverted to Mumbai where the plane landed safely four hours later, at around 5:45 am.
Director of Trichy airport, K Gunasekaran, said airport police personnel who witnessed the incident, informed the air traffic control which in turn alerted the pilots about it.
However, the Captain reportedly told officials that there was no problem in the plane and that all the cockpit equipment indicated to him that plane was in good shape.
Source: Twitter
Air India – India’s national carrier said in a statement that the aircraft took off from Trichy airport in southern India early on Friday when airport officials "observed that aircraft might have come in contact with the airport perimeter wall".
"The matter was conveyed to the pilot in command. The pilot in command reported that the aircraft systems were operating normally."
Images of the damaged plane are making people wonder how it remained airborne for hours after smashing into a wall.
News agency PTI reported a day after the incident that the plane was diverted to Mumbai after Dubai airport denied it permission to land.
Trichy airport officials informed their counterparts at Dubai that the plane had minor damage but was safe to land. However, Dubai reportedly considered it too risky to allow it to land.
Both the Captain and the First Officer who have over 6,500 flying hours between them have been stood down pending an investigation.
Mr Gunasekaran said security personnel who witnessed the plane hitting the wall are also being questioned.
The driver of a car passing by the wall when the plane was taking off was reportedly injured as a piece of debris of the wall hit the car.
Officials said a piece of the fence mesh was found stuck near the wheel and the bottom of the plane was slashed due to the impact.
The fortunate passengers of Air India Flight IX 611 were moved to a different aircraft, which then took for Dubai with a fresh crew.
