New Delhi: A Dubai-bound Air India Express flight with 133 people on-board brushed against a wall at the airport on Friday. 

The Air India Express Boeing 737 (reg VT-AYD) hit a boundary wall at Trichy airport during take-off. 

After flight IX 611 from Trichy to Dubai had taken off from Trichy at about 1.30 am today, it was reported by local airport officials that they observed that the aircraft might have come in contact with the perimeter wall. The matter was conveyed to the pilot in command. The pilot in command reported that the aircraft systems were operating normally. 
 

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The plane lost contact with air traffic control officials and landed in Mumbai after around four hours. A total of 136 on board, including passengers, are reported to be safe. 

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The ILS or Instrumentation Landing System antenna was damaged and was only noticed when the plane landed in Mumbai. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered an inquiry. The aircraft was changed in Mumbai and has been kept for inspection. Another flight has been arranged to take the passengers from Mumbai to Dubai. The flight diverted to Mumbai landed safely at about 5.35 am in Mumbai and taxied on its own power to the parking stand.  The passengers were provided refreshments at Mumbai and a relief aircraft was arranged to continue the flight from Mumbai to Dubai with a fresh set of crew.

The top portion of the airport boundary wall collapsed after the accident. All 130 passengers and 6 crew members on board the aircraft were alighted safely.

The pilot in command was Captain D Ganesh Babu who has flying experience of 3600 hours including about 500 hours as commander on the Boeing 737 aircraft. The First Officer was Captain Anurag who has an experience of about 3000 hours on the Boeing 737. The two pilots have been taken off duty pending investigation. 

A high-level inquiry into the incident has been initiated, sources in the aviation ministry said. In a recent interview, aviation minister Suresh Prabhu had said that he is mulling over appointing a third party organisation to look into various safety aspects at Air India and also regularly prepare "safety compliance report" of all airlines.
 

“Safety of the passengers is of paramount importance for us. We will take all that’s required to put the safety on top of aviation agenda. Growth can’t be at the expense of safety,” he said.