Chennai: The wheels of an Air India Express flight to Dubai from Tiruchirappalli or Trichy in Tamil Nadu hit the airport's compound wall while taking off with 130 passengers on Friday. The flight which took off at around 1.20 a.m., was then diverted to Mumbai where it landed safely.

While the damage to the Boeing B737-800 airplane's wheels is not known, a portion of the compound wall has been damaged. An alternative flight was arranged to take the passengers to Dubai.


Officials at the airport police station told media that the compound wall was around five feet. On hearing about the incident Tamil Nadu Tourism Minister N. Natarajan visited the airport and inspected the damage.

Air India has taken the pilot and co-pilot off duties pending an investigation and the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has been informed of the incident, the airline tweeted.

While the damage to the Boeing B737-800 airplane's wheels is not known, a portion of the nearly five foot compound wall at the Tiruchirappalli Airport was damaged

Trichy is about 350 km from here.