Air India jet grounded as engine ingests cargo container while taxiing at Delhi’s IGI airport

After landing safely, while taxiing to the apron in dense fog, its right engine (Engine 2) ingested a loose cargo container left on the taxiway, causing damage to the engine.

An Air India Airbus A350 aircraft operating a Delhi-New York flight sustained engine damage on Thursday morning after sucking in a cargo container while taxiing at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, forcing the plane to be grounded, officials aware of the matter said.

The visibly damaged aircraft was parked at a stand as metal debris was cleared.

The incident occurred at around 5.25am. The aircraft, registered VT-JRB and operating flight AI101 to New York’s JFK, had already been forced to return to Delhi due to the sudden closure of Iranian airspace.

After landing safely, while taxiing to the apron in dense fog, its right engine (Engine 2) ingested a loose cargo container left on the taxiway, causing damage to the engine.

When a jet engine ingests a foreign object – known as Foreign Object Damage (FOD) – an item is pulled into the engine’s high-speed rotating blades, which can cause bending, breaking, or catastrophic disintegration of the blades.

The visibly damaged aircraft was parked at a stand as metal debris was cleared, the people cited above said.

In a statement, Air India confirmed the event. “Air India confirms that Flight AI101, operating from Delhi to New York (JFK), was forced to return to Delhi shortly after take-off due to the unexpected closure of Iranian airspace,” the airline spokesperson said. “Upon landing in Delhi, the aircraft encountered a foreign object while taxiing in dense fog, resulting in damage to the right engine.”

“The aircraft was safely positioned to the designated parking stand, ensuring the safety of all passengers and crew on board. The aircraft is currently grounded for a thorough investigation and necessary repairs, which may cause potential disruptions on select A350 routes,” the spokesperson said.

The airline said its officials are assisting affected passengers with alternative arrangements and refunds.

In a statement, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said Air India’s A350 aircraft (VT-JRB), operating flight AI101 from Delhi to New York, suffered engine damage on January 15 after its No. 2 engine ingested a cargo container while taxiing at IGI Airport following its return due to Iranian airspace closure.

The regulator said a preliminary probe found the container had fallen from a ground handling tug at a taxiway intersection, and a detailed investigation is underway.

A preliminary investigation, officials said, has found that the incident was caused by ground handling equipment movement near Bay 242, an area designated for Air Mauritius equipment. “A tug was transporting multiple cargo containers to the designated area when one of the wheels of a container dolly came off, causing a container to topple onto the taxiway,” an airport official said.

Although the operator moved the remaining equipment upon seeing the taxiing Air India plane, the fallen container was left behind and was subsequently ingested by the aircraft’s engine, the official explained.