Boeing 737 Misplaced Under Unusual Circumstances, Avoidable Mistakes

Air India somehow misplaced a 43-year-old Boeing 737-200 and forgot about it for over a decade. The Kolkata airport didn’t forget about the airplane though, and continued to add parking fees. The airline was oblivious until recently, when it received a parking bill that, over a 13-year period, accumulated to a total of 10 million Indian Rupees, about USD$120,000.

The story began in 2012 when the Air India aircraft, registration VT-EHH, was taken out of service and parked on a remote parking bay at Kolkata Airport. As time went on, staff changed and those who knew about the 737 gradually left and the jet slipped through the cracks.

When the airport called the airline and asked them to remove the airplane, the airline responded by saying it wasn’t actually their aircraft. Apparently there was no record of it because of chronic administrative lapses when the aircraft belonged to Indian Airlines, a state-owned company. However, a complete and thorough internal audit revealed that it was indeed Air India’s airplane.

The confusion arose through a series of mergers that led to a situation where one hand didn’t know what the other was doing. Adding to the mix were avoidable mistakes, oversights and blind spots that occur when public funds are involved. The airplane flew for Indian Airlines, Alliance Air, and even as a freighter for India Post before it was grounded in 2012.

As mentioned, the aircraft was first owned by the state-owned company Indian Airlines, which later merged with Air India, a privately owned company. The combination of time, the changing of companies and the people involved, and administrative indifference all conspired to put Air India between a rock and a hard place. When Air India officials finally understood what happened, they decided to bite the bullet and pay the fee.

Air India ended up selling the airplane to an undisclosed buyer who will use the aircraft as a dedicated maintenance training platform at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.

FMI:  www.airindia.com/