The flight which was preparing to take off for Doha around 2:30 am, was hit at the belly, an official of Airport Authority of India (AAI) said. (Representational photo)

Nearly 100 passengers were stranded at Kolkata airport early Thursday morning after a water tanker hit a Qatar Airways aircraft near the landing gear.

The flight, which was preparing to take off for Doha around 2:30 am, was hit at the belly, an official of Airport Authority of India (AAI) told PTI.

PTI quoted a source in DGCA as saying that an inquiry had been initiated after the plane was grounded for primary inspections and passengers were safely deboarded. “We will take corrective measures based on the inquiry report,” he said.

The AAI official noted that no one was hurt and said, “All 103 passengers of the flight have been provided accommodation at a nearby hotel. They will be taking the 3am flight to Doha tomorrow (Friday).”

While preliminary inspection suggested technical issues with the water tanker, the brake wasn’t functioning properly, the AAI official shared.

In another incident on October 11, an An Air India Express flight to Dubai with 130 passengers on board had a close shave when it hit the perimeter wall of the Trichy international airport during take-off. The flight, however, continued its journey despite damage to the aircraft with the pilots apparently unaware of the incident. \

No passenger had suffered any injury. An inquiry was initiated by Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu into the incident and both, the pilot and co-pilot were de-rostered pending investigation.

(With inputs from PTI)