DGCA explains how Air India plane ‘ingested’ cargo container at Delhi airport after return due to Iran airspace closure

Something strange happened at Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport. The Air India Airbus A350 was in the news again, on Thursday, January 15 2026. This time it was because one of the Airbus A350 engines sucked in a cargo container while the Airbus A350 was moving on the ground. The aviation regulator of India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has explained how this incident occurred and why the order of events was important. The aircraft had to go to Delhi because Iranian airspace was closed suddenly. Then something unexpected happened in the fog and low visibility. A container used for handling things on the ground became unstable. Got in the way of the India aircraft engine intake. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has laid out the details of what happened to the India aircraft.

Here is what engine ingestion is. The DGCA talked about it. They said that when ground equipment fails and there is fog it can be very bad for planes. This does not happen often. It is very serious. The DGCA explained this in words. Now people want to know what happens after something, like this occurs. So let us look at what happens next when people investigate things that go wrong with planes.

1) Okay so let us go through what happened. I will break it down into simple steps.

The timeline is as follows:

First something occurred and then that led to something and so on.

To make it really simple the main thing to know is that one event happened after another and that is the timeline of what happened.

So to sum it up what happened is that a series of events took place and these events are the timeline.

The timeline of what happened is easy to understand if we look at what happened one step at a time. That is what I am doing here.

What happened is that each of these events followed one, after the other and that is the timeline of what happened.

Step A: The flight had to turn because the airspace in Iran was closed. This meant that the flight could not continue on its route and had to return. The reason for this was that Iran airspace was shut down. The flight returned due, to the Iran airspace closure.

Air India had a flight from Delhi to New York. This flight is called AI101. It took off from Delhi. Then it had to turn back. The reason for this was that Iran closed its airspace for a while. Because of this many flights had to change their route. This caused a lot of problems for flights. Air India said that Iran closing its airspace was not expected. This is why the Air India flight had to go to Delhi. The flight from Delhi to New York had to be changed because of this problem. Air India had to make plans, for the flight.

Step B: After the plane landed safely on the ground it was moving slowly when the engine of the aircraft hit something that was not supposed to be which was called a foreign object by the people who saw it happen to the aircraft.

The Air India aircraft landed back at IGIA. Then something went wrong on the ground not when the Air India aircraft was in the air. Air India said the Air India aircraft had a problem with something it was not supposed to run into while the Air India aircraft was moving on the ground. This caused damage to the engine of the Air India aircraft. The right engine of the Air India aircraft is also called the A350 number 2 engine, which’s, on the right side of the Air India aircraft.

Step C: DGCA’s specific location/time for the incident

The DGCA says something bad happened to an airplane. This happened around 05:25 IST. The airplane was moving on the ground towards its parking spot. It was at the spot where two roads for airplanes meet called taxiway N and N4. At that time the number 2 engine of the airplane sucked in a cargo box. The DGCA says this caused a lot of damage, to the airplane. The airplane got damage when the number 2 engine ingested the cargo container.

Step D: The aircraft was. Then parked. The people around it made sure the area was cleared of everything. The aircraft was now stationary. The area, around the aircraft was clear.

When something like this happens the first thing people do is stop everything, around the area that was affected. They want to make sure it is safe so they look for any hazards. Clean up any debris. One report says that after they cleared away the metal debris the aircraft was moved to Stand 244 and then people started to investigate what happened to the aircraft.

2) So I was wondering what it means when people say that an engine ingested a cargo container. What does that actually mean when an engine ingests a cargo container?

In aviation the term “ingestion” is used to describe what happens when an engine sucks something into the air that flows into it. This something can be an object that the aviation engine pulls into its airflow. The aviation engine ingestion is basically when the engine takes in something it should not take in like an object into its airflow.

Jet engines are really strong. They can pull things in even when they are not going fast. If something gets too close to the front of a jet engine it can get sucked in. This happens because the engine is like a powerful fan. The area, in front of the engine is called the hazard zone. Normally this zone is protected by:

strict ground-handling rules and marked safety areas,

trained ramp staff,

correct parking/placement of equipment,

The rules are really important. They become even more strict when you can not see very well. The procedures that we have to follow become even stricter in visibility. This is the case, with the procedures that become even stricter in visibility.

A cargo container is like a box that holds all the luggage. This box is called a ULD. It is a box that helps us move things around easily.

The ULD usually sits on a cart or a transporter. Then a tractor or a tug can move it around.

If the ULD becomes unstable or breaks free it can be very dangerous. It can roll around on its own. Even get sucked into an engine. This can be very bad.

So we have to be careful, with the ULD to make sure it does not become a problem. A ULD can be a danger if it is not handled correctly.

So when we talk about the container being ingested by the engine it does not mean that the whole container just got sucked in like you see in cartoons. What really happens is that the engine intake pulls the container or maybe just a part of it into the fan area. This causes a lot of damage to the fan blades and the casing and other important parts inside the engine. Even small things that do not belong there can break the fan blades. So you can imagine what a big metal container can do. It can be really bad, for the engine. The engine ingestion of a metal container is a serious problem.

3) The Directorate General of Civil Aviations explanation is that they want to know how a container could have ended up in the path of the engine. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is trying to figure out what happened. So the question is, how did the container get in the way of the engine? The Directorate General of Civil Aviation needs to find out.

There are reports that talk about what the DGCA said. These reports say that the DGCA description points to three things that contributed to the problem:

(1) Low visibility / dense fog

The incident happened when we could not see far and there was a lot of fog. When we can not see well the people on the ground and the flight crew do not have a lot of time to see things that could be dangerous. The fog also makes it really hard to move equipment around where we want it to go. The low visibility from the fog is a problem, for the ground crews and the flight crew.

(2) Ground equipment failure / instability of the container movement system

A major Indian newspaper told us what happened. A big wheel fell off a truck that was carrying a container. The container started to wobble. Then it fell over. This was a bad situation because it was foggy. The container started rolling towards an airplane and the airplane sucked it in. The container got ingested by the airplane.

So even if every news outlet does not tell the story in the same way the main thing that the DGCA is saying is this: a big box that cargo comes in was not tied down properly when it was on the ground and it rolled into a place where planes are moving around. The DGCA is looking into this because the cargo container was not safe and it got into an area where the DGCA does not want things, like that.

(3) The aircraft was moving on the ground, which’s a time when things can go wrong. The aircraft was. That creates times when bad things can happen to the aircraft.

When a plane is taxiing it is a busy time for the pilots. The Taxiing phase is very busy for the pilots because they have to do a lot of things at the time. The pilots are listening to what the air traffic controllersre telling them to do. They are also making sure the plane is staying on the center of the taxiway. The pilots have to use the brakes and they have to check all the systems on the plane to make sure everything is working correctly. At the time the pilots have to keep an eye out for other planes and vehicles that are moving around the airport. Sometimes the area, around the plane called the ramp can also be busy. This can happen when the plane is going to a parking spot after it had to turn to the airport unexpectedly. The Taxiing phase is a time and the pilots have to be very careful and pay attention to everything that is happening around the Taxiing plane.

The note from the DGCA that the problem happened at a place where two taxiways meet’s important. These places are where lots of things are happening at the time like planes turning cars driving on service roads and equipment moving around. The DGCA is saying that these areas can be very dangerous if people cannot see well and if the rules are not being followed closely. The DGCA wants to make sure that the rules are tight, at these taxiway intersections to prevent problems.

4) Why did the Iran airspace closure matter to this incident?

When you first think about it Iran airspace closure and cargo container ingestion, in Delhi seem like two different things.. When you look at how they actually affect things the Iran airspace closure can make a difference in a few real ways:

When something does not go as planned it can really disrupt the things we have to do on the ground. This unexpected return is a problem for our ground planning. The ground planning is very important. This unexpected return is causing a lot of trouble, for the ground planning.

When a long-haul flight has to turn the airport needs to do a lot of things. They have to find a place for the plane to park, which is called a stand. Then they have to figure out what to do with the passengers get fuel check the plane to make sure it is okay and maybe even find new flights for the people on the plane. This means the airport staff has to work hard and really fast. The long-haul flight turning back causes a lot of work and stress, for the airport staff because they have to do all these things for the long-haul flight.

Early-morning operations in fog

The time it happened was 05:25 IST. This is the time you would expect fog in North India during the winter. If the plane was coming back and moving on the ground during the worst of the fog the airport was probably following rules, for when you can not see very far. These rules mean everyone has to be very careful and follow the rules closely.

Higher chance of “non-routine” ground movements

A big plane that comes back may need to be moved to a place, pulled by a truck or sent to a special area where it can be fixed. When this happens it can cause a lot of movement of cars and equipment, around the areas where planes drive and park.

Reuters also said that Air India warned this problem could cause trouble for Air Indias A350 routes. The Air India aircraft was not allowed to fly so it could be looked at and fixed. This means that the problems, with Air Indias operations started away because of the Air India A350 issue.

5) How rare is this thing. Why people take this thing extremely seriously. This thing is very rare. That is why people take it extremely seriously. People do not see this thing often so when it happens people pay a lot of attention to this thing.

Foreign Object Damage (FOD) is a top safety risk

Airports have to deal with things on the ground that can be bad for the planes all the time. This stuff is called FOD. It can be things like stones or bolts or tools or pieces of rubber or even baggage tags. Really anything can become a problem if it is, near the engines of the planes.

So the airlines and the airports have to do something called FOD walks. During these FOD walks they sweep the ground. They scan all the surfaces to make sure everything is safe. They do this on a basis.

It is very unusual for a big ULD or container to get sucked in. This is because it normally takes a lot of things to go at the same time for this to happen:

The equipment must be in the place or the equipment must become uncontrolled. This is a problem with the equipment. The equipment is either, in the place or the equipment is not being controlled like it should be.

People have to find it before it’s too late or else the people will not be able to do anything about it. The people must look for it quickly so the people can fix the problem. If the people do not find it in time the people will be, in trouble.

You can not see things clearly as you normally would and it is harder to know what is going on around the visibility and situational awareness. The visibility and situational awareness may not be as good as they should be.

The aircraft has to fly close to the other plane so that the engine sucks it in. The engine suction has to be strong enough to capture the aircraft. This means the aircraft must get very close to the plane, for the engine suction to work on the aircraft.

Why the damage can be massive

On widebody engines the fan, at the front is really big and perfectly balanced. If a heavy object hits the fan blades of the widebody engines:

Blades can. They can break. This is something that happens to blades. Blades are not always strong and sometimes blades can bend or blades can break.

Fragments can really hurt the fan case. The fan case is what we need to protect from these fragments. Fragments are very bad, for the fan case because they can cause a lot of damage. We should be careful that fragments do not damage the fan case.

The vibrations can get really bad and exceed the limits the vibrations are so strong that they exceed the limits.

The engine may have to be shut down and taken out so that the engine can be looked at closely. This is so that the engine can be checked properly. The engine needs to be checked to see what is wrong, with the engine.

The aircraft was moving slowly on the ground. It can still get badly hurt. Reuters said that something, from outside got into the engine and caused damage when the plane was taxiing. This is what they called “engine damage” from a ” object” that happened while the plane was moving slowly on the ground.

6) So what usually happens after something gets sucked into an engine when the plane is, on the ground?

Even without knowing every internal Air India/airport action minute-by-minute, aviation standard response is broadly consistent:

Stop the aircraft / secure the scene

If the crew notices any noise or if the plane is shaking or if there are warning signs or if they see any damage the crew will stop what they are doing and talk to Air Traffic Control and the people, on the ground to figure out what to do with the aircraft.

Shut down the affected engine if needed

When a plane is taxiing it can sometimes keep moving on one engine.. If someone thinks something might have gotten sucked into the engine the safe thing to do is to stop using that engine altogether. This is what people usually do when they are being careful. Taxiing on one engine is not a problem in some cases. With suspected ingestion people prefer to avoid using the engine anymore to be, on the safe side.

Call engineering and airport operations

Maintenance teams check the engine intake and the fan. They do this so that airport operations can make sure the area is safe for people to pick up debris. Maintenance teams and airport operations work together to get this done. The maintenance teams look at the engine intake and the fan. Then the airport operations secure the whole area.

FOD sweep and debris recovery

Every piece of information is really important for safety. For figuring out what happened with the fragments. The fragments are important because they help us understand what went on. We need all the fragments to get the picture and to stay safe. The fragments are crucial, for reconstructing what happened.

Move aircraft to a safe stand

When the aircraft is safe it can be towed to a place instead of moving on its own to reduce the risk of something bad happening. One report says that the aircraft was parked at Stand 244 after the debris was cleared away.

Initial reporting to regulator and internal safety systems

The people who run the planes the operators they have to tell us when something big happens. The DGCA said in a statement that they are looking into this and they are trying to figure out what is going on. The DGCA is really involved in this. They are doing a thorough investigation of these significant occurrences.

7) The thing about fog: why we need to be really careful when it is hard to see in the winter. Winter is a time when we have to be extra careful because the fog can make it very hard to see what is going on. The fog factor is a deal because it can cause a lot of problems. We have to make sure that everyone follows the rules when the fog rolls in during the winter months. This is especially important, for winter low-visibility operations. The fog factor is something that we have to take seriously. We need to have discipline when it comes to winter low-visibility operations because of the fog factor.

Dense fog can really affect safety in two ways that are connected to each other:

* Dense fog can make it very hard to see things that are, around you

Dense fog is also something that can make it difficult for people to see the road when they are driving and that is because of the dense fog.

This is very important to think about when we talk about fog and the safety issues that come with dense fog.

A) Reduced detection time

When it is clear outside a pilot or a person who works on the ramp can see a container from a distance.. When it is foggy that same rolling container can show up really close, to you all of a sudden.

B) Increased complexity and “false normal”

Fog is something that happens a lot in the winter. This can make people think that everything is okay because they have done things this way times before.. The thing about fog is that it is actually when small mistakes can turn into really big problems. Fog is a time when people need to be extra careful because even small things can go wrong and cause incidents, with fog.

This is why airports use Low Visibility Procedures. The name for these procedures can be different, in countries or airports. They may include:

restrictions on vehicle movement,

tighter controls on crossings,

mandatory lighting and escorts,

and stricter stand entry/exit protocols.

If something bad happened and a container was moving around on its own the people looking into it will probably check the following things:

whether LVP were active,

Were the rules, for moving vehicles and equipment actually followed?

I was wondering if things like staffing or lighting or even communication had something to do with it. Staffing and lighting and communication are all things to consider. Did staffing or lighting or communication play a role, in what happened.

The details will come out when they do an investigation. The DGCA has said that they are doing investigation to find out what happened with the DGCA investigation.

8) Who is in charge when something, like this happens.. What the Directorate General of Civil Aviation the DGCA will probably check. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation the DGCA has a role to play in such cases. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation the DGCA will look into this matter.

The DGCA says in its reports that it is looking into the circumstances and who is responsible, for what happened with the DGCA. The DGCA wants to know what exactly went on and who is to blame. The DGCA is doing a very thorough investigation of the DGCAs circumstances.

When something goes wrong people usually look at lots of things that happened not just what one person did wrong. They want to know what else was going on with the investigations what the investigations are looking at and how the investigations can help figure out what happened. The investigations are important because they help us understand what went wrong and how to make sure it does not happen again with the investigations.

1) Ground handling provider processes

Did they make sure the ULD or the container was tied down correctly and safely in place so the ULD or the container would not move around?

Was the dolly/transporter serviceable?

Were locks or chocks used in the places where they were needed to keep things in place?

So I was wondering if the right steps were taken when it came to moving and parking the equipment in the fog. Were the usual procedures, for moving equipment followed when it was foggy? Did they follow the rules for parking the equipment in those conditions?

2) Equipment maintenance and inspection

If a wheel or the locking mechanism fails then this is what happens: the wheel or the locking mechanism is not working like it should. The wheel or the locking mechanism is very important for things to work properly. So if the wheel or the locking mechanism fails it can cause problems.

Was maintenance current?

Were there prior defect reports?

The equipment was checked to make sure it is okay to use. Did they say the equipment is ready, for use? Is the equipment really cleared for use?

3) Apron/taxiway interface controls

Airports decide where the ground equipment is allowed to go and when it can be used. The people who investigate will check:

whether the container was in an authorized area,

If service roads and taxi lanes were properly separated it would make a difference. Service roads and taxi lanes need to be kept apart so that everything runs smoothly. This is really important for service roads and taxi lanes to work together. Proper separation of service roads and taxi lanes is the key, to avoiding problems.

and whether barriers/markings were adequate.

4) Air traffic control and airport operations coordination

Were there any unusual taxi instructions?

Were vehicles actually driving on the taxiways where planes are supposed to be moving? Vehicles should not be, on these taxiways. The question is were these vehicles really crossing the taxiways.

Was there any miscommunication during the return handling?

5) Airline procedures after return

So I was wondering how they decided who gets which stand. Was the stand assigned to someone, in particular. Was it just random? The stand was. I do not know the process they used to assign the stand.

Were there any minute changes that made the Digital Data more likely to be lost or stolen or were there last minute changes that increased the risk of something going wrong with the Digital Data?

The crew must have gotten some kind of warning about hazards. Did they actually get any warnings, about the hazards they might face? The question is, were the crew members told about any hazards?

The main thing we want to do is not find someone to blame. We want to stop this from happening. So we need to figure out what went wrong and make those things better. We have to look at the safeguards that failed and make them stronger so the same thing does not happen again with the safeguards.

9) What this means for the Air India operations the routes that Air India will be using the A350 for and how it will affect Air India and its A350 routes.

Reuters reported that Air India said there might be problems with Air India A350 flights because one of the Air India A350 planes was not able to fly. The number of Air India A350 planes is not very big so if even one Air India A350 plane is not working it can cause issues with the schedule of Air India A350 flights, to countries where a lot of people want to travel.

Things that often happen as a result of this problem are:

flight delays/cancellations or aircraft swaps,

Some passengers are being rebooked on flights with partner airlines the passengers are getting tickets, from these partner airlines.

The airline might have to make some changes to the schedule for a while and that could mean fewer flights until the aircraft is working again and back, in service.

The time it takes to fix something depends on:

I want to know if the damage is to the fan blades and the area where air goes in or if it is more, than that. Is the damage limited to the fan blades and the intake area?

I need to figure out if the engine has to be taken out and sent to a shop so the engine can be fixed properly. Does the engine really have to be removed and sent to a shop for that to happen to the engine?

and the availability of spare parts and spare engines.

10) So how can an airport stop something, like this from happening at the airport? The airport needs to think about what it can do to prevent this kind of thing from happening at the airport in the future.

Things, like this normally result in actions being taken away and also over a longer period of time. Some common things people do to prevent this from happening include:

Immediate actions (days to weeks)

We did a safety check on the Foreign Object Debris and the equipment on the apron. This was a thing to do because we want to make sure everything is safe. The Foreign Object Debris and equipment safety audit that we did on the apron involved checking all the things that’re there to make sure they are not damaged. We looked at the Foreign Object Debris and equipment carefully to see if there were any problems. The safety audit of the Foreign Object Debris and equipment, on the apron was a job.

Inspection of all ULD dollies/transporters for wheel security, locking pins, braking systems

We need to make sure that the people who work on the ramp and the ones who do the towing have the training. They should get briefings and training refreshers on what to do when it’s foggy. The briefings and training refreshers are for the ramp staff and the towing staff. They are about how to work safely in the fog.

* The ramp staff need to know what to do in fog

* The towing staff also need to know what to do in fog

We have to make sure that the ramp staff and the towing staff are prepared to work in the fog. The briefings and training refreshers for the ramp staff and the towing staff are very important, for fog operations.

Temporary movement restrictions for equipment near active taxi routes during LVP

Medium-term actions (weeks to months)

Better physical segregation between taxi lanes and equipment staging zones

Upgraded lighting, reflective markings, and tracking for ground equipment

Enhanced spotter/escort requirements when towing or moving ULD trains in low visibility

Stronger compliance monitoring (CCTV-based audits, random checks)

Long-term actions

We are using apron management systems to keep track of the movement of vehicles and equipment. These digital apron management systems are really helpful because they allow us to see where our vehicles and equipment are at all times. The digital apron management systems track the movement of vehicles and equipment so we can make sure everything is where it needs to be. This is very useful, for managing our vehicles and equipment.

Investing in automated FOD detection and alerting systems

We need to make some changes to the contract and the key performance indicators. These changes will make sure that the people who handle things on the ground do their jobs in a way. The new contract and key performance indicators will be connected to how safe the ground handlersre. This means that the ground handlers will be rewarded for doing a job of keeping everyone safe. The contract and key performance indicators updates will focus on safety metrics, for the ground handlers.

11) The key takeaway

The main point is this: the DGCA reports that the real issue is not about physics it is actually about the DGCA reports saying that the real issue is about things not going well at the same time. The DGCA reports show that this is what happens when the DGCA sees that a lot of things that can go wrong do go wrong, at once.

a non-routine return caused by an external airspace event (Iran closure),

dense fog/low visibility reducing detection and reaction time,

Something bad can happen when a ground-handling container gets loose and goes into the area where the engine takes in air. This is a bad place for it to be. The ground-handling container can get sucked into the engine. When this happens the engine can get damaged badly. The engine ingestion of the ground-handling container can cause damage, to the engine.

Aviation safety is built on layers. This event matters because it suggests multiple layers—equipment condition, positioning, visibility procedures, and movement controls—may have been tested at the same time. The investigation’s value will be in identifying exactly where those layers weakened and how to restore stronger defenses.