An Air India aircraft, which was operating between New Delhi and New York, suffered substantial damage to one of its engines this morning after it sucked in a baggage container at Delhi airport.
The incident occurred when the Airbus A350 was taxiing in dense fog at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) on Thursday, 15 January, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in an X (formerly Twitter) post, confirming the incident.
As per the report, Flight AI101 had to return to Delhi due to the closure of Iranian airspace, which affected its planned route. Upon landing, the aircraft's engine was found to be damaged.
How it happened
The incident occurred around 5:25 AM, when the visibility was marginal. The aviation regulatory body confirmed that the aircraft landed safely at Runway 28 in Delhi airport.
A preliminary investigation has revealed that a BWFS tug carrying a few containers to “Baggage Makeup Area” of Terminal 3 crossed an intersection on the vehicular lane. During the crossing, one of the containers fell onto the taxiway and got sucked into an engine of the Air India aircraft.
The DCGA has launched a formal investigation into the incident. The regulator is working to determine how a foreign object, especially a baggage container, got lodged inside the aircraft's engine, leading to the damage.
More details about the extent of damage are expected once the investigation is complete. The aviation regulator also posted pictures of the damaged engine in its X post.
Why did Iran close its airspace?
Iran temporarily closed its airspace to most flights after United States President Donald Trump issued threats against the country, according to the US aviation authority.
In view of the closure, most flights were prohibited from Iranian airspace between 1:45 AM and 4:00 AM local time (22:15 to 00:30 GMT) and again from 4:44 AM to 7 AM (01:14 to 03:30 GMT) on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera.
The airspace restrictions in Iran were put in place amid threats by US President Trump to attack the country after Tehran carried out a deadly crackdown on widespread anti-government protests.
According to FlightRadar, an online flight tracking service, only three aircraft could be seen over Iran at 6:05 AM local time, while dozens of planes were flying around the country’s borders.
After the brief period of disruption, Iran’s airspace finally reopened at about 7 AM local time on Thursday, 15 January.
