Jet plane hits Kingfisher flight at Mumbai airport

A Jet Airways aircraft with 122 passengers on board hit a stationary Kingfisher plane while it was being pushed back at the international airport in Mumbai in the wee hours of Saturday, following which three ground staff were grounded.

"This incident has been classified as a serious incident. An investigation has been ordered under the aircraft rules," said Directorate General of Civil Aviation chief S N A Zaidi.

Pending the inquiry, one technical personnel was suspended and two other ground staff derostered, he said.

The incident occurred at nearly 2 am on Saturday morning when the Jet Airways plane, bound for Muscat and parked on Bay 85, was being pushed back by a tractor to enable it to taxi for take-off.

The Jet aircraft hit a stationary Kingfisher Airlines aircraft parked in the adjacent Bay 84, causing damage to the left horizontal stabiliser of the latter.

All passengers and crew on board flight 9W-5402 were safe. They were later flown to their destination in another aircraft as the one involved in the incident was grounded, a Jet spokesperson said.

An official spokesperson said "preliminary facts prima facie revealed certain lapses on the part of ground technical personnel responsible for push back. Proper procedure was not followed for the push back operation. Overall there was no coordination between the ground crew."