Mumbai, Feb 26: An Air-India ferry flight to Jeddah returned to Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport here early today after some parts of one of its engines got detached during takeoff, airport sources said. The flight AI 3803, with 16 crew members on board, had taken off at 11.00 pm last night to ferry back Haj pilgrims from Jeddah, the sources told a news agency.
An Air France commander after landing on the runway number 27 alerted the Air Traffic Control (ATC) of the presence of large metal pieces on the runway. After tallying the parts, AI engineering department confirmed that these metal pieces belonged to the engine number two of B747, which had taken off for Jeddah.
The flight was immediately called back by AI to Mumbai and has since been grounded after landing at 2.58 am. On inspection, it was observed that the fuel tank and other lines had suffered major dents and cracks and the cowling was missing, they said.
"The fuel tank was full of oil. It appears that the cowling of the engine must have been ruptured while taking off from Mumbai", the sources added.
When contacted an AI spokesman confirmed the incident and said "the engine cowling had come off and was located inside the airport area. An alternate aircraft is being readied for ferrying the pilgrims backs". Bureau Report