The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said Air Traffic Controllers and SpiceJet pilots have been “removed” pending an investigation into the Akasa Air-SpiceJet incident at the Delhi airport on Thursday.
On Thursday afternoon, a SpiceJet plane heading towards the parking lot collided with an Akasa Air flight taxiing for take-off.
Akasa Air said its flight QP 1406 operating from Delhi to Hyderabad had to return to the Gulf while SpiceJet was operating from Leh to Delhi.
According to PTI, the incident happened around 2:15 pm at Terminal 1 of the airport.
Akasa Air said in a statement that according to preliminary information, its plane was stationary when another airline’s plane made contact with it.
Winglet damaged
The wings of Akasa Air and SpiceJet collided on the taxiway and were damaged.
In a statement, SpiceJet said its Boeing 737-700 aircraft was involved in a “ground incident” while taxiing at Delhi airport, resulting in “damage to its right wing and the left horizontal stabilizer of another aircraft belonging to another airline”.
Meanwhile, DGCA said that the wing of SpiceJet’s Boeing 737-700, VT-SLB, while taxiing in the allocated parking area after the operation of flight SG 124 (Leh-Delhi), collided with the horizontal tail surface (HTS) of an Akasa Boeing 737 aircraft located on the operating sector of the apron on the Delahi flight.
“As a result of the impact, the right wing of the Spicejet aircraft and the HTS aircraft of Akasa Air were damaged,” the watchdog said in a statement.
Citing preliminary information, PTI officials said that the wings of both the planes touched on the taxiway.
Details of the number of passengers on board the two planes could not be ascertained. However, Akasa Air informed that all passengers and crew were safely disembarked and “our ground teams are making alternative arrangements to fly our passengers to Hyderabad as soon as possible”.
DGCA is launching a probe
The DGCA further informed that it is investigating the incident.
Later, in an updated statement, the watchdog said the air traffic controller in question and the SpiceJet pilots involved were off schedule pending investigation.
