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Air India A350 Engine Damaged by Cargo Container in Delhi Fog

An Air India Airbus A350 flight bound for New York returned to Delhi due to the closure of Iranian airspace. While taxiing after landing, the aircraft's engine ingested a loose cargo container that had toppled onto the taxiway, causing substantial damage. The incident occurred in marginal visibility conditions due to dense fog early Thursday morning. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has launched an investigation into the event.

Key Points: Air India A350 Engine Ingests Cargo Container at Delhi Airport

  • Flight AI101 returned due to Iran airspace closure
  • A350 engine ingested cargo container during taxiing
  • Incident occurred in dense fog around 05:25 IST
  • DGCA has launched a probe into the incident
2 min read

Air India flight to New York suffers engine damage after ingesting cargo container at Delhi airport

An Air India flight to New York returned to Delhi, then suffered engine damage after ingesting a loose cargo container in dense fog. DGCA investigating.

"Safety of our passengers and crew remains top priority - Air India advisory"

New Delhi, January 15

Air India Flight AI101, an Airbus A350 aircraft VT-JRB, was forced to return to Delhi on Thursday shortly after takeoff due to the closure of Iranian airspace on Thursday morning. The flight, which was headed to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, landed safely at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport's Runway 28.

However, as the aircraft was taxiing to the apron, the No. 2 engine ingested a cargo container at the taxiway N/N4 junction, causing substantial damage. The incident occurred around 05:25 IST, when visibility was marginal due to dense fog, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) note.

According to preliminary investigations, a BWFS tug was transporting containers to the Baggage Makeup Area of Terminal 3 when one of the containers toppled onto the taxiway intersection. This loose container was then sucked into the engine of the Air India A350 aircraft.

After clearing the metal pieces, the aircraft was safely parked on stand 244. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a probe into the incident.

Earlier in the day, Air India issued a travel advisory informing passengers of potential delays in international flights overflying the region and cancellations, when rerouting is not possible amid the airspace closure in Iran.

The advisory read, "Due to the emerging situation in Iran, the subsequent closure of its airspace, and in view of the safety of our passengers, Air India flights overflying the region are now using an alternative routing, which may lead to delays. Some Air India flights where currently rerouting is not possible are being cancelled."

The airlines further requested passengers to stay updated with flight status before heading to the airport. The airlines highlighted the safety of passengers and crew, apologising for the inconvenience.

"We request passengers to check the status of their flights on our website https://t.co/zsIzqUy58u before heading to the airport. Air India regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers due to this unforeseen disruption. Safety of our passengers and crew remains top priority," said the advisory.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

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Priya S
Scary incident! 😨 Imagine being a passenger on that plane, already stressed about the rerouting, and then hearing your engine ate a metal box on the ground. Kudos to the pilots for handling both situations. Hope Air India compensates the passengers for this double trouble.
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Rohit P
This is why we need better infrastructure. Delhi T3 is world-class, but ground operations need same level of scrutiny. Loose cargo in low visibility is unacceptable. BWFS needs to answer how this happened. Hope the new management at Air India takes strong action.
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Aman W
The A350 is a brand new, expensive aircraft for AI. Engine damage from ground debris is a huge financial hit on top of the operational chaos from Iran situation. Tata Group has a big task fixing these systemic issues. Safety first, absolutely, but efficiency matters too.
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Sarah B
Flying from Delhi to NYC next month. This news is worrying. While I appreciate Air India being proactive about Iran airspace, the ground incident shows internal problems. Will definitely check my flight status multiple times before heading to the airport.
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Nikhil C
Respectfully, this looks like a chain of failures. Fog, geopolitical tension causing reroute, and then ground staff error. The positive is that the pilots and ATC managed everything without harm to passengers. That's the main thing. Hope the investigation leads to better procedures.

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