Car hits fuselage of Air India Express aircraft !

Cars have rammed into trees, trucks and even trains this month but on Tuesday night, a car rammed into an aircraft at the old airport complex, Kalina, Mumbai. In an incident that begs an explanation, a Maruti Omni van rammed right into the fuselage of a Boeing 737-800 parked in Air India's major maintenance hangar at Kalina. No one was seriously injured. According to sources, the incident occurred around 8 pm when the van, operated by an AI employee, sped towards the Air India Express aircraft, which was parked in the fourth hangar along with another one in the AI engineering complex for maintenance and repairs. "The accident is inexplicable, the van sped straight towards the parked aircraft and rammed into the area near the right wing. Thankfully, the aircraft was not damaged badly. The van though, is a mangled mess," the source said. The vehicle driver escaped with minor injuries.

Incidentally, no one seems to have seen the accident happen as the place was quite deserted at the time. Though the four AI hangars, that stand one beside the other cover about half a kilometre in length, there was only a security guard posted for the three aircraft docked inside. "From the impact, it seems the vehicle was speeding," said the source. Apron driving rules dictate the speed limit for vehicles at 2-5 kilometre per hour, when approaching an aircraft. It was also not known whether the driver had a airport driving permit. "The skid marks on the ground under the aircraft's belly show that the van swirled before it hit the aircraft," said the source. The incident was a part of the series of unfortunate accidents that have happening in the AI maintenance hangar for some time now. In the earlier incidents, a senior service engineer fell off a work ladder and had to be hospitalised with multiple fractures on December 23.

Then, last month, a Boeing 747-400's winglet got damaged after it hit an obstacle while it was being docked inside the hangar. But it's the latest accident that has cast a gloom over the AI engineering set-up. AI spokesperson confirmed the incident saying that there was minor damage to the flap of the aircraft. "But it will be ready for operations by Friday. An enquiry has been ordered into the incident," the spokesperson said adding that AI Express's flight schedules will not be affected due to the incident. He added that the driver, who is an engineer was not injured.

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