Air India is in the hot seat after a scary situation formed involving one of its Airbus A350 jets. Perhaps most importantly, the plane sucked in an outside cargo container while taxiing at Delhi airport. The event occurred on Thursday at approximately 05:25 local time (23:55 GMT on Wednesday), while the plane was en route to the apron area with around 240 passengers on board.
During taxi out, the aircraft had a failure. It sucked an entire cargo container into its No. 2 engine. Air India confirmed the incident, stating, “The container which fell was left behind and it got ingested into the No. 2 engine of the aircraft.” The large scale of this incident has highlighted the lack of proper ground safety protocols at one of India’s busiest airports.
Although there were no injuries or aircraft damage reported, metal debris littering the taxiway was enough to create hazardous operations and call for an emergency response. After the incident, the aircraft was towed and parked in a secure location on a remote stand so that it would not disrupt other active flights.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, the country’s aviation regulator, has initiated a probe into the incident. This latest scrutiny comes against the backdrop of sustained concerns about safety procedures within India’s aviation industry. Not once, but several times, India’s DGCA has flagged grave safety concerns at the biggest, busiest airports and airlines. These factors cover a wide spectrum from quickly fading runway markings, lacking simulator training, crew fatigue and maintaining minimum standards. Increased safety vulnerabilities from unauthorized cockpit access and alleged crew shortages make these risks even worse.
The DGCA was opening an investigation into the Air India incident. They will look to determine what led to the crash and if existing safety treatments were adequate. This most recent crash is just the latest in a long series of similar cases. Aviation authorities are now under more pressure than ever to act on safety concerns.