Two aircraft — operated by SpiceJet and Akasa — clipped wings while taxiing at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Thursday afternoon, damaging both planes, airport officials said. The incident occurred around 2.15pm near Terminal 1, when a SpiceJet flight arriving from Leh was taxiing to its parking bay and struck an Akasa aircraft that was stationary and preparing for departure to Hyderabad.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said a probe has been launched and an air traffic controller and the SpiceJet pilots have been derostered pending investigation.
An airport official said there was visible damage to both aircraft, with a portion of the SpiceJet wing lodged in the Akasa aircraft.
“The Akasa flight QP-1406, heading to Hyderabad, had taxied out of the bay, while the SpiceJet flight SG-124 had arrived from Leh and was taxiing into the stand when the wings of the two aircraft clipped,” the official said.
Responding to the incident, a SpiceJet spokesperson said, “A SpiceJet B737-700 aircraft was involved in a ground occurrence while taxiing at Delhi airport, resulting in damage to its right winglet and the left-hand horizontal stabiliser of another aircraft belonging to a different airline.” The spokesperson added that the aircraft has been grounded.
Akasa said its Delhi-Hyderabad flight had to return to the bay following the accident.
“Preliminary information indicates that Akasa’s aircraft was stationary when another airline’s aircraft made contact with it. All passengers and crew were safely disembarked, and our ground teams are making alternative arrangements to fly our passengers to Hyderabad at the earliest,” an Akasa spokesperson said.
“In line with established protocols, the relevant authorities have been informed, and the matter is under investigation. At Akasa Air, the safety and security of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority,” the spokesperson added.
The DGCA said it was carrying out a detailed probe into the incident.
“On April 16, the winglet of a SpiceJet B-737-700 aircraft, which was taxiing to the allocated parking bay after operating flight SG-124 (Leh–Delhi) at Terminal 1, hit the horizontal tail surface (HTS) of an Akasa B-737 aircraft positioned on the apron after push-back for operating a Delhi-Hyderabad flight. Due to the impact, the right-hand side winglet of the SpiceJet aircraft and the horizontal stabiliser of the Akasa aircraft were damaged,” the DGCA said in a statement.