© Hindustan Times/Hindustan Times/Hindustan Times via Getty Images Passengers at the ticket desk of Air India at a domestic airport . By Ba...
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| © Hindustan Times/Hindustan Times/Hindustan Times via Getty Images Passengers at the ticket desk of Air India at a domestic airport . |
By Bard Wilkinson, CNN
An Air India Boeing 737 aircraft was damaged after hitting an airport wall during take off on a flight from Trichy to Dubai on Friday.
Flight IX 611, which was carrying 130 passengers and six crew members, took off from the south Indian city at approximately 1.30 a.m. local time, but was diverted to Mumbai.
Air India said the plane, which was operated by its low-cost wing, Air India Express, landed safely but two pilots have been grounded.
India's national carrier said in a statement that airport officials at Trichy, in Tamil Nadu, observed that the aircraft "might have come in contact with the airport perimeter wall."
"It was decided to divert the aircraft to Mumbai as a precautionary measure," the statement added.
A spokesperson for Air India told CNN that the plane was damaged but did not give any details.
Air India says it has reported the crash to the aviation regulator and is "cooperating with the investigation."
It comes weeks after a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Jaipur was forced to turn back after around 30 passengers complained of nose and ear bleeds due to low pressure in the cabin.
An official with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told CNN affiliate CNN News 18 that the crew allegedly forgot to press a button to pressurize the cabin.
The government put Air India on the auction block last year, but it failed to attract buyers.
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