The curious case of an Airbus 320 which got stuck in an underpass
What are the chances you’ll find an Airbus A320 rolling down the streets? If you are still processing that question, well, people in Andhra Pradesh’s Bapatla district found one stuck in the Korisapadu underpass on Saturday evening.
As the police pushed and pulled to get the mammoth aeroplane out of the trap, a massive crowd gathered to watch the spectacle and take selfies. A video of the incident has now gone viral on social media.
The aeroplane is an old one, decommissioned by Air India. It flew for the airlines for many years before being sold at an auction in Kerala. The buyer is Ch Shiva Shankar, the owner of Hyderabad’s Pista House, a popular food chain. Shankar apparently wants to turn the A320 into a restaurant.
https://twitter.com/KaustuvaRGupta/status/1592090112804155393
It was being transported from Kochi to Hyderabad on the trailer of a truck when the incident happened. Officials—who obviously had no idea that an aeroplane would be part of the traffic—had closed the Addanki-Hyderabad service road because of maintenance work in Medarametla. Vehicles headed to Hyderabad were diverted through the Korisapadu underpass. As the truck drove through, the plane got stuck in the underpass, sparking a traffic jam in the area.
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Second incident in two years
As the news spread, Medarmetla police reached the spot and helped pull the aircraft out of the underpass without any damage. Medametla sub-inspector Shiv Kumar told the media: “The driver of the trailer was unaware of the traffic diversion and got stuck. The aircraft has been pulled out of the underpass safely.”
The truck will reportedly take some days to reach Hyderabad, as it is travelling slowly to prevent any damage or accident. Last week, too, the plane made news near Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram where people started gathering by the roadside to catch a glimpse of it.
Air India plane got stuck around @delhiairport – Gurgaon area last night.
@AirIndiain says the plane was sold to someone & transported last night.
Hope the @airindiain privatisation announcement will not get stuck and be out this coming week. ✈
Video via @deepakseditor pic.twitter.com/kBLnFGmlyr
— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) October 3, 2021
An aeroplane getting stuck under a bridge is not unique news in India, though. A similar incident was reported from Delhi in 2021, when a scrapped Air India plane got stuck under a bridge on the Delhi-Gurugram highway while being transported.
(With agency inputs)
