New Delhi: The DGCA will investigate how the
windshield of an Air India plane was damaged after being hit,
probably by a stone, when it was taxiing for take-off from IGI
airport here Sunday evening.
The Mumbai-bound plane, with 162 passengers on board, was
damaged when its windshield was hit by a "foreign object",
probably a stone, which was blown away by the jet blast of a
Jet Airways aircraft which was in front, official sources
said.
They said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation would
investigate as to how and why the "foreign object" flew into
the windshield at high speed and damaged it. It would also
investigate as to how stones or such objects were present
at or near the taxiway.
The sources did not rule out the possibility of presence
of stone near the place where the incident happened as some
construction work was going on.
Since the Jet Airways pilot increased the engine thrust,
the construction material could have flown and hit the Air
India plane, they said.
The incident occurred around 17:05 hours when Air India
flight IC 836 was taxiing from Bay 13 for the runway, while a
Jet Airways aircraft which was on Bay number 15, was taxiing
ahead of the AI`s Airbus A-321 aircraft when it raised the
thrust of the engine.
The AI flight was aborted and a new aircraft was
positioned to carry the passengers to Mumbai after a delay of
about two hours 45 minutes.
PTI
