Air India says it’s found an airplane it misplaced 13 years ago and dealt with it appropriately. The old Boeing 737-200 was parked on a ramp at Kolkata Airport in 2012 after the airline had wrung the last hours out of the then-30-year-old first-generation 737. It was built in 1982. It was taken out of passenger service and carried mail before it was parked for the last time. The most recent chapter of the story unfolded earlier this year when the airline disputed fines from the airport over unpaid storage fees. The airport finally convinced Air India that the airline that it had, indeed, left its airplane to crumble in an isolated area of the field. Air India CEO Campbell Wilson fessed up with the following statement.
“Though disposal of an old aircraft is not unusual, this one is, for it’s an aircraft that we didn’t even know we owned until recently!” Wilson said. “Over time, it was lost from memory and only came to light when our friends at Kolkata airport informed us of its presence in a (very) remote parking bay and asked us to remove it! After verifying that it was indeed ours, we’ve now done so—and in so doing removed another old cobweb from our closet.” Air India dismantled the plane and sold it as a maintenance platform for an MRO at Bangalore International Airport.
I remember seeing the molding scrap heap 14 years ago when i was an expat in India. I’ll say this…. It looks the same as it did 14 years ago.
I don’t know how many times I’ve misplaced an aircraft. Let’s be real, that happens to everyone!
“sold it as a maintenance platform for and MRO at Bangalore International Airport”. I’m guessing that was meant to be “an MRO”, but what’s an MRO?
Maintenance and repair organisation
Smuggling dog treats….