Air India flight hits compound wall at Trichy Airport, all passengers safe

An Air India Express flight to Dubai with 130 passengers on board had a close shave when it hit the perimeter wall of the Trichy global airport during take-off early on Thursday.

The incident happened around 1.30 am when a wheel of the Air India flight IX 611 hit the localiser, also called the safety wall, at the runway just before taking off.

After the incident internal inquiry has been set up, pilot&co-pilot derostered till investigation is done.

The pilot in command reported that aircraft systems were operating normally, however, diverting the flight to Mumbai was a precautionary measure. The flight has landed safely in Mumbai. The pilot in command D Ganesh Babu has a flying experience of 3.600 hours on the B 737 aircraft, including 500 hours as a commander. Air India, in its official statement, said all passengers were landed safely at Mumbai airport, adding that another aircraft from Mumbai to Dubai was arranged.

"It was chose to divert the aircraft to Mumbai as a precautionary measure". The plane had 130 passengers and six crew members on board. The First Officer was Capt. Anurag who has an experience of about 3000 hours on the B 737.

Air India has taken the pilot and co-pilot off duties pending an investigation and the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has been informed of the incident, the airline tweeted.

Airport sources said one of the three VHF antennae on the aircraft was believed to have been damaged in the incident.

Tamil Nadu Tourism Minister Vellamandi N Natarajan visited Tiruchirappalli airport and inspected the accident spot.