Durgapur: A scrapped Boeing 737 aircraft that’s being transported from Kolkata airport to Jaipur on a tractor trailer along National Highway 2 was stuck under a flyover in Durgapur for nearly eight hours on Tuesday morning. Employees of Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), and locals residing in the steel township and adjoining areas flocked to see the strange plight of an uncommon cargo. It was only after the rear tyres were taken off could the truck with its 12-tonne cargo be towed away.
Durgapur was abuzz with excitement since early Tuesday as rumour did the rounds of a plane missing the runway at Andal airport in the fog and landing on the expressway instead. As the crowd converged at the ‘incident spot’, the bizzare sight of a plane sans wings and tail trapped under the flyover greeted tehm.
“The plane got stuck around 3 am. The nose and the cockpit section of the plane had managed to pass through when the rest of the body proved too tall and got caught under the flyover girders. An attempt was made to deflate the tyres and tow the trailer but it didn’t help. Ultimately, the rear tyres — eight of them — had to be taken off to create a headrooom between the cargo and the flyover’s underbelly. The trailer was then towed to safety,” a police officer said.
TOI had on Sunday reported the departure of the scrapped plane from Kolkata airport, where it had been lying idle since 2014. Part of erstwhile state-owned domestic carrier Indian Airlines’ fleet, it has been used a cargo plane by India Post at the fag end of its service life.
After the plane was extricated, police halted the truck’s journey to Jaipur following a complaint by National Highway Authority of India. According to NHAI project manager (NH2) Sumit Mukherjee, the firm transporting the plane had not applied for transporting the mega-sized cargo.
25/12/19 Times of India
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Durgapur was abuzz with excitement since early Tuesday as rumour did the rounds of a plane missing the runway at Andal airport in the fog and landing on the expressway instead. As the crowd converged at the ‘incident spot’, the bizzare sight of a plane sans wings and tail trapped under the flyover greeted tehm.
“The plane got stuck around 3 am. The nose and the cockpit section of the plane had managed to pass through when the rest of the body proved too tall and got caught under the flyover girders. An attempt was made to deflate the tyres and tow the trailer but it didn’t help. Ultimately, the rear tyres — eight of them — had to be taken off to create a headrooom between the cargo and the flyover’s underbelly. The trailer was then towed to safety,” a police officer said.
TOI had on Sunday reported the departure of the scrapped plane from Kolkata airport, where it had been lying idle since 2014. Part of erstwhile state-owned domestic carrier Indian Airlines’ fleet, it has been used a cargo plane by India Post at the fag end of its service life.
After the plane was extricated, police halted the truck’s journey to Jaipur following a complaint by National Highway Authority of India. According to NHAI project manager (NH2) Sumit Mukherjee, the firm transporting the plane had not applied for transporting the mega-sized cargo.
25/12/19 Times of India
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