Air India plane damaged at Newark airport in America

New Delhi, 5 June 2014

An Air India plane was hit by a high lift catering truck at the US’ Newark international airport, forcing the airline to ground the aircraft there after it suffered considerable damage. The incident happened last evening when the plane, a Boeing 777-ER (Extended Range) which was to operate on Mumbai-Newark route with flight number AI-191, was hit by a high lift catering and cleaning truck at the parking bay after landing, an Air India spokesperson said.

The plane suffered considerable damage and had to be grounded. Due to this, the return flight to Mumbai was cancelled and all the passengers, around 325, have been given accommodation in hotels, he said.

Air India has been operating Boeing 777 ER planes on ultra long haul flights to Tokyo and US.

The airline official said the grounding of one aircraft will not affect its operations as “yesterday we had inducted a new Boeing 787 into our fleet and if needed we can operate with it our flights.” Meanwhile, to bring back stranded passengers, Air India is operating a ferry flight which left New Delhi this afternoon and will leave for Mumbai from Newark tomorrow at 11.10 AM local time.

Then asked about whether Air India would seek any compensation for the damage, he said, “We have to look at all aspects before moving ahead.”