Representational image of a Cathay Pacific plane.
Just as a large cargo plane was about to land at the Delhi airport, the left flap of the Boeing 747-500 fell to the ground.
Airport Officials in charge of monitoring safety on runways - called surface movement controllers - had the huge piece of airplane removed immediately to prevent trouble for other airplanes, that land on the runway at about every 2 minutes.
Air traffic at Delhi airport peaks at around 7 pm; there is a landing or a take-off every two minutes. So swift action on the part of the surface movement controllers ensured that other flights using the runway didn't face any problem.
The 14-year-old Boeing aircraft, owned by the Hong Kong-based airline, Cathay Pacific, has been grounded and the flap has been sent to the National Transport Safety Board in the United States for examination.
A team of engineers from the US-based manufacturer, Boeing, too will inspect the aircraft at Delhi airport.
In July 2000, an iconic Concorde aircraft, with 109 people on board, had crashed just outside the Paris' Charles De Gaulle airport after a piece of scrap on lying on the runway punctured the fuel tank of the supersonic jet. Within seconds of the take off, the aircraft caught fire and it eventually crashed into a hotel, just outside Paris.