A dent formed on the panel of the cargo hold area of the Emirates aircraft that arrived from Dubai in the wee hours of Thursday resulted in the grounding of the aircraft. The dent was reportedly formed after the loading and unloading equipment hit the aircraft. Airport sources said that the incident took place at 3.45 a.m. in the international airport when the FMC equipment of the Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited (AISATS) was trying to shift the containers from the cargo hold area of the aircraft.
Airport sources said the negligence of the AISATS staff led to the incident. Following this, the EK 523 flight from here to Dubai had to be cancelled, causing inconvenience to checked-in134 passengers.
However, Emirates said in a release that the flight was cancelled due to “technical reasons”. Some passengers were accommodated on other flight and subsequent flight EK 521 to Dubai. The airline had provided accommodation to others and they will be accommodated in the EK523 flight that would depart on Friday. The AISATS authorities were not available for comments.