Indigo plane hits Air India Express aircraft at Kolkata airport, pilots de-rostered

An IndiGo aircraft grazed the wings of an Air India Express plane at the Kolkata airport on Wednesday, leaving wings of both aircraft damaged, officials said.

The IndiGo flight was headed to Darbhanga, while the Air India Express plane was scheduled to leave for Chennai.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched a probe and de-rostered two IndiGo pilots involved in the incident, a senior DGCA official said.

Both aircraft had passengers on board at the time of the accident but no injuries have been reported.

Air India in a statement said the aircraft has returned to the bay and further investigations are underway.

"The wingtip of a taxiing aircraft of another airline grazed one of our aircraft, which was stationary and awaiting clearance to enter the runway at Kolkata for a scheduled operation to Chennai," an Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement.

The aircraft has since returned to the bay and further investigation is underway, "for which we are coordinating with the regulator and airport authorities," the airline said.

The incident took place on the taxiway near the runway around 11 am, sources at the airport said.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a statement that the wingtip vortices of both planes were badly damaged.

"A minor graze between a taxiing IndiGo aircraft and that of another carrier was reported from Kolkata Airport. The aircraft returned to bay for inspection and necessary action, as per protocol," IndiGo said in a statement.

Consequently IndiGo flight 6E-6152 between Kolkata and Darbhanga has been delayed, it said, adding that an alternate aircraft has been arranged to minimise delay and inconvenience to passengers.

IndiGo also said that "an incident report will be submitted to DGCA in due course, as per protocol".