Air India plane slammed into wall at 250 kmph; Pilots continued to fly for 3 hrs

Civil Aviation minister Suresh Prabhu ordered a high-level inquiry into the Trichy-Dubai flight incident that took place last night.

Both the pilots of the Boeing 737 aircraft have been de-rostered until further notice. (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: The news of a Dubai-bound Air India Express flight with 130 passengers on board hitting a wall during take-off from Trichy in Tamil Nadu has gone viral over the internet. However, what makes it more shocking is the fact that pilots of the flight were completely unaware of the incident and continued flying for 3 hours. The pilots, apparently unaware of the damage to the Boeing 737 aircraft, reported that all the systems of the plane were functioning normally. But the flight was later diverted to land in Mumbai anyway as precautionary measure. Luckily no passengers or crew members suffered any injury. As per reports, both the pilots of the Boeing 737 aircraft have been de-rostered until further notice. Soon as the incident was reported, Civil Aviation minister Suresh Prabhu ordered a high-level inquiry into the Trichy-Dubai flight incident that took place last night. “Spoke to Secretary and other senior officials of @MoCA_GoI and directed them to conduct a High Level Enquiry into the incident,” said the Union Minister through his Twitter profile. DGCA officers are at site for preliminary inquiry and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau officers have also been deputed, he added. “Air India has constituted a Sub-Committee of the Board headed by an Independent Director of the Board for looking at all safety related issues within the organisation including subsidiaries,” Prabhu said further. The incident took place at around 1.30 am last night when plane hurtled down the Trichy airport runway at a speed of 250-290 km per hour and nicked the boundary wall before it was up in the air. Air India officials informed that two of the plane’s wheels hit the airport perimeter wall which collapsed on impact. The Air Traffic Control then contacted the pilots that the aircraft might have come in contact with the airport perimeter wall. "The pilot in command reported that the aircraft systems were operating normally," said Air India Express in a statement. Later the plane was rerouted to Mumbai where it landed at around 5.35 am and taxied to the parking stand. After landing officials found that the plane's body had tears, cracks and dents that were potentially very dangerous. The plane also suffered an severe damage to the belly. Broken parts of the plane's antenna were found on the ground at the Trichy airport, an officer said.