An Air India Express Boeing 737-800 hit an electric pole after landing at Vijayawada International Airport in Andhra Pradesh. The flight was flying in from Doha this afternoon when the impact happened.
Minor damages
The aircraft was performing IX-1676. After touching down, the plane was taxiing on the airport’s runway towards bay number 5. However, while doing so, it hit an electrical pole.
There are no reported injuries to anyone onboard the flight. Vijayawada International Airport director G Madhusudan Rao, however, confirms that there is minor damage to the wing of the aircraft.
“An Air India flight coming from Doha met with a minor accident at Vijayawada International Airport in Gannavaram today. All passengers are safe. When the flight was about to land, its wing hit a light pole. The light pole broke and fell down. The flight wing is slightly damaged. This incident happened at 16.54 IST.” Madhusudan Rao said, according to ANI.
“There were 64 passengers in the flight excluding the crew. Nobody is injured in the incident and all are safe.”
19 of the 64 passengers were alighting at Vijaywada. Meanwhile, the rest are were heading to Trichy, a city in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state
The aircraft and operator
According to Planespotters.net, registration VT-GHE, the 737 involved in the incident, was delivered to Air India Express in October 2016. The carrier is the first operator of the plane, having arrived from Renton with MSN 60698. The unit is joined by 23 other 737s in the airline’s fleet.
Air India Express was founded 15 years ago and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian flag carrier Air India. The low-cost carrier offers flights to 13 international destinations from several cities in India and prides itself on quick turnaround times.
The airline made the news for tragic reasons last August. One of its 737s flying from Dubai to Kozhikode was involved in a terrible accident that resulted in the passing of 21 people.
An investigation has been opened
ANI shares that a passenger on today’s flight shared that those on board just felt a small jerk and the pilot was alerted. Thankfully, there is no significant damage overall. Nonetheless, Air India Express has ordered an investigation into the event.
Simple Flying reached out to the airline for comment on this occurrence involving the Boeing 737. We will update the article with any further announcements from the carrier.
What are your thoughts about this Air India Express Boeing 737 hitting an electric pole while landing in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada International? Have you or anyone you know been impacted by this flight? Let us know what you think of the situation in the comment section.
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