Passenger Aircraft Hit By Water Tanker Minutes Before Take-Off

A passenger flight was hit by a water tanker a few minutes before take-off at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata, India, early Thursday.

The incident took place when passengers were boarding the Doha-bound Qatar Airways aircraft. According to local reports, all the 103 passengers, who were on board the flight were brought to safety. The aircraft's belly was damaged in the incident and the plane was grounded for inspection.

News agency PTI quoted an official as saying, "All 103 passengers of the flight have been provided accommodation at a nearby hotel. They will be taking the 3 a.m. local time (5.30 p.m. EDT Thursday) flight to Doha tomorrow (Friday)," Times Now reported.

“The passengers were safely evacuated. We have informed the Director General of Civil Aviation about the incident,” airport director Atul Dixit told local daily Hindustan Times.

“The movement of vehicles in the airport takes place through pre-determined routes and speed. One has to find out how the driver lost control of the vehicle,” said another officer. “We will take corrective measures based on the inquiry report.”

Initial inspection suggests that the water tanker had technical issues and the brake wasn’t working properly, according to the Times Of India. Local reports said the driver of the tanker was suspended following the incident.

Earlier this month, an Air India flight packed with 130 passengers and six crew members rammed into a perimeter wall during take-off. The pilots were grounded pending an investigation after they allegedly failed to notice the destruction in and continued to fly the significantly damaged jet for more than four hours.

Photos of the Boeing 737 aircraft showed its underbelly torn to shreds and its fuselage dotted with holes.

The airlines said in a statement that the airport staff “observed that aircraft might have come in contact with the airport perimeter wall. The matter was conveyed to the pilot in command. The pilot in command reported that the aircraft systems were operating normally.”

Officials said the plane was overloaded leading to the problem in taking off and reaching a particular height.

In a similar incident in 2015, a Jet Airways shuttle bus rammed into a stationary Air India jet at the Kolkata airport, damaging the right side of the flight. No casualties were reported as there were no passengers on the bus or the aircraft. Authorities at the time said the driver of the bus might have fallen asleep, thus causing the accident. Thick fog could be another possible cause, they said.