• IndiGo SpiceJet Delhi Airport Getty
    Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    DEL/VIDP
    Country:
    India
    CEO:
    Videh Kumar Jaipuriar
    Passenger Count :
    28,500,545 (2020)
    Runways :
    09/27 - 2,813m (9,229ft) | 10/28 - 3,810m (12,500ft) | 11R/29L - 4,430m (14,534ft) | 11L/29R - 4,400m (14,436ft)
    Terminals:
    Terminal 1 | Terminal 2 | Terminal 3

An Airbus A321 belonging to Air India has been damaged during pushback in New Delhi. The incident took place on April 12th as the aircraft was being pushed back for departure as flight AI889 to Guwahati.

On the ground

During pushback, the holding pin used to secure the towbar to the nose landing gear is believed to have broken, causing the tug to move underneath the aircraft.

At this stage, the extent of the damage is unknown, however the flight was delayed by almost three hours. Flight AI889 is a daily flight from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport to Guwahati, with onward service to Imphal.

Simple Flying has reached out to Air India for comment. The incident was reported by @shukla_tarun on Twitter:

Air India and the A321

According to Planespotters.net, the aircraft in question, VT-PPH, is 14 years old. This particular aircraft has flown only for Air India, after having been delivered to the airline in 2008, and is one of 20 Airbus A321s in the national carrier’s fleet.

The airline’s A321s seat 182 passengers – 12 in business class and 172 in economy class. Air India also operates the Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft on short-haul routes, with 22 and 36 of each aircraft in its fleet, respectively.

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Long-haul services are operated exclusively by Boeing aircraft, and Air India is one of the few remaining operators of the Boeing 747-400. However, with the airline currently modernizing its fleet, time could be running out for its jumbo jets.

Air India 747 Getty
Air India is one of the few remaining airlines still operating the Boeing 747-400 - but for how long? Photo: Getty Images

Flight AI889 was scheduled to depart to Guwahati Airport (full name Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport), located in India's Assam state, to the north of Bangladesh. Despite not currently having any international services, it is the 12th busiest airport in India, with a significant number of flights to many domestic destinations.

What is involved in a pushback?

Many aircraft are theoretically capable of reversing on the ground using the engines' reverse thrust. However, in reality, this is seldom carried out, as the jet blast from such a maneuver would lead to problems, including damage to the terminal building and increased noise pollution.

A pushback with a tug is therefore the most common method used to move an aircraft back from its stand, ready for departure. Many tugs use a towbar to connect to the aircraft’s nose landing gear, with a shear pin keeping the tug and the towbar in line. However, this shear pin can snap when put under too much stress.

Goldhofer-tug-at-zurich-airport
The towbar-less tug connects straight to the nose wheel. Photo: Roland Kemer via Wikimedia

An alternative, which is growing in popularity worldwide, is the towbar-less tug. It scoops up the nose landing gear and lifts it off the ground, avoiding the complexity of connecting and disconnecting the towbar. Using such a tug may have prevented the incident with Air India flight AI889.

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