Scrapped Boeing stuck under a Bengal over-bridge in dense fog

The aircraft once operated by the Indian Airlines and later by India Post before being grounded in 2014 was kept near the Air India hangar at the international airport in Kolkata since then.

A decommissioned Boeing-737 without wings got stuck under an over-bridge on NH-2 near Durgapur Steel Plant in Bengal’s West Burdwan district in the early hours of Tuesday while on the way to a scrapyard in Bihar, creating a spectacle for the locals, who clicked selfies and photos.

Burdwan: Locals gather after a trailer carrying an old aircraft stuck under an over-brige on the National Highway- 2 at Durgapur in West Bengal on Tuesday morning. (PTI Photo)

The incident fortunately did not trigger heavy traffic snarls and was resolved after the tyres of the trailer carrying the plane were removed to lower its height enabling its passage. No one was injured in the incident.

The police officers who visited the spot said dense fog in the morning made the driver misjudge the height of the over-bridge.

The aircraft once operated by the Indian Airlines and later by India Post before being grounded in 2014 was kept near the Air India hangar at the international airport in Kolkata since then.

Deputy commissioner (east) of Asansol-Durgapur police Abhishek Gupta said the officials of the National Highway Authority of India were informed about the incident.

“There was no traffic jam. The plane is now in custody of the police,” said Gupta.

Nearly a dozen old planes are still waiting at the NSCBI airport in Kolkata to be scrapped.