Third time’s the charm? Air India’s Airbus A320 is stuck again!
Air India’s planes are not easily retired. A few years ago, they tried to move an old Airbus A320 to a training facility, but decided to use a crane that apparently couldn’t handle the weight of the aircraft.
This has never happened before with Air India. They discovered for the first time in a real-life situation that his 200-ton crane selected for this job was not suitable for moving his 70-ton aircraft. The crane’s arm was broken.
Dramatic photos: Crane carrying Air India plane crashes in Hyderabad https://t.co/ATvBvQp5G3 pic.twitter.com/55v7DOJDG2
— NDTV (@ndtv) April 10, 2016
Then, in 2021, a retired Air India Airbus A320 plane became crushed under a bridge on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway near Delhi Airport. Traffic backed up behind the stranded aircraft.
#clock @airindiain’s plane ✈️ (grounded) got stuck on a bridge with his foot trapped under it. Can anyone confirm the date and location?
The competition starts now pic.twitter.com/pukB0VmsW3— Ashoke Raj (@Ashoke_Raj) October 3, 2021
Fast forward to Friday, same thing happened Also. And then back to the Airbus A320. (HT: eniluria)
The fuselage of a retired Airbus A320 plane was crushed under a bridge in the eastern Indian city of Motihari while en route to Mumbai. People gathered near the bridge to watch the plane rest precariously, while some tried to figure out how to move it away and back their cars along the highway.
Video: Plane gets stuck under bridge in Bihar, causing huge traffic jam https://t.co/4VnGV0OPg5 pic.twitter.com/fk7RkrR41w
— NDTV (@ndtv) December 30, 2023
When an Airbus A320 aircraft is misjudged by one truck driver or crane operator acting alone, it can result in: that’s the purpose of insurance. But these are not operations planned by his one individual, or at least they should not be. Even if the fuselage of a 34-year-old narrow-body aircraft is headed to a boneyard, it’s worth taking altitude measurements and checking bridge heights along the planned route before proceeding.