The Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA has ordered an enquiry into the incident.
Highlights
- Over 100 passengers were stranded at Kolkata airport
- Officials suspect the water tanker's brakes had failed
- Plane was immediately grounded for inspection
101 passengers were stranded at Kolkata airport early this morning after a water cart operated by Air India rammed into a Qatar Airways aircraft at 220 am.
Qatar Airways flight QR 540 from Kolkata to Doha was boarded and ready to take off at 3.15 am when the incident took place. Passengers were de-boarded and sent to a hotel, along with 12 crew and 2 pilots. No one was injured. The Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered a probe into the incident.
Officials suspect the tanker's brakes had failed.
The aircraft, which was hit in the belly, was immediately grounded for inspection, officials said.
"All passengers will be accommodated in the next flight scheduled for tonight," Airport Director Atul Dixit, Kolkata Airport, told NDTV.
The driver of the tanker has been suspended.
Qatar Airways has not responded to queries on phone and over email yet.
Last month, an Air India flight from Trichy to Dubai rammed into a perimeter wall during take-off and flew for three hours before the pilot was informed about damage to the aircraft made an emergency landing in Mumbai.
The Air India plane was severely damaged and the 136 passengers and crew onboard the aircraft had a miraculous escape. Officials had said that the plane was overloaded leading to the problem in taking off and reaching a particular height.