Cargo truck hits parked plane of Akasa at Mumbai Airport, no one hurt

NEW DELHI: An Akasa aircraft parked at Mumbai Airport was hit by a truck on Monday afternoon. In a statement, Akasa said: "A third party ground handler, while operating a cargo truck, came in contact with an Akasa Air aircraft that was parked at CSMIA, Mumbai. The aircraft is currently undergoing a thorough inspection, and we are investigating this incident with the third party ground handler." The Boeing 737MAX was parked when the truck hit it and there were no injuries to employees or passengers.

Following the Air India June 12 crash in Ahmedabad, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had conducted checks at Delhi and Mumbai airports. Among the deficiencies observed was this: “Many vehicles in the ramp area were found without speed governors. These vehicles were withdrawn by cancelling their permits along with their drivers’ airport driving licences.”

For years, attempts are being made to arrest the increase in ground accidents at Indian airports. The DGCA had six years back mandated that operators will have to ensure vehicles are completely safe to drive and drivers have the required knowledge of airside driving rules.

An order to the effect issued in 2019 said: "In order to curb (ground incidents at airports), DGCA has developed a detailed checklist to benchmark safety standards on airside of airport…. checking ground facilities like equipment, passenger boarding bridge, condition of apron/ marking/ lighting, availability of foreign object debris bins."

Regarding vehicles and drivers, it says: "To regulate the movement of vehicles in airside, checks include fitness of vehicle as well as the fitness of drivers and their knowledge with regard to the geography of aerodrome, aerodrome signs, marking, lighting, radio telephony operating procedures, terms and phrases used in airside operations, adequate training of driving/ operating the relevant vehicle/equipment and the training of the employees working at airside. The checklist also includes aircraft turnaround and general safety procedures such as aircraft fuelling, pushback, towing, marshalling, mooring and arrival and departure of aircraft."