A freighter aircraft of Qatar Airlines suffered a major damage on Saturday, hit by a tractor sans brakes.
According to airport sources, the aircraft was being pushed back by the tractor after the loading/unloading operations. Since it had no brakes, a person was engaged to walk along and use ‘wheel chokes’ as a brake to halt it.
After the push-back operations and disconnection of the tow-bar, the untrained person, instead of driving clear, reversed the vehicle and hit the aircraft, resulting in major damage and grounding of the aircraft for two days. The Airport Director H.S. Suresh said the Airports Authority had issued strict orders that ground handling operations had to be carried out only by authorised agencies.
