DGCA to probe damage to windshield of Air India plane

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will investigate how the windshield of an Air India plane was damaged after being hit, probably by a stone, when it was taxiing for take-off from IGI airport here last evening.

The Mumbai-bound plane, with 162 passengers on board, was damaged when its windshield was hit by a "foreign object", probably a stone, which was blown away by the jet blast of a Jet Airways aircraft which was in front, official sources said.

They said the DGCA would investigate as to how and why the "foreign object" flew into the windshield at high speed and damaged it. It would also investigate as to how stones or such objects were present at or near the taxiway.

The sources did not rule out the possibility of presence of stone near the place where the incident happened as some construction work was going on.

Since the Jet Airways pilot increased the engine thrust, the construction material could have flown and hit the Air India plane, they said.

The incident occurred around 5.05pm when Air India flight IC 836 was taxiing from Bay 13 for the runway, while a Jet Airways aircraft which was on Bay number 15, was taxiing ahead of the AI's Airbus A-321 aircraft when it raised the thrust of the engine.

The AI flight was aborted and a new aircraft was positioned to carry the passengers to Mumbai after a delay of about two hours 45 minutes.