Canopy collapse: MoCA Naidu reviews operations at Delhi airport

New Delhi [India], July 1 : Days after the canopy collapse incident at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday visited the Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) to take stock of the operations.

Union Minister Naidu held a meeting with senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA, BCAS, DIAL, and airline operators on Sunday.

The meeting focused on reviewing current operations and passenger handling following the transition of flights from Terminal 1 to Terminals 2 and 3. A comprehensive assessment was conducted, involving detailed discussions on ensuring smooth functioning and deploying additional manpower to manage increased passenger flow.
"Inspected the AOCC, IGI Airport, I convened with senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA, BCAS, DIAL, and airline operators to review current operations and passenger handling following the transition of flights from T1 to T2 and T3," the Union Minister posted on X.
The DGCA confirmed the activation of war rooms, facilitating close coordination between DIAL and the airlines. Minister Naidu advised all stakeholders to maintain rigorous standards to ensure seamless operations and prioritise passenger safety.
He was informed of the total number of passengers impacted, facilities like accommodation for alternate flights and refunds provided to them.
The canopy collapse incident took place at Terminal 1 of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday morning, killing one person and injuring eight others.
Earlier, assuring proactive measures regarding the Delhi Airport canopy collapse incident, Naidu Kinjarapu said on Saturday that a war room has been constituted to ensure refunds or alternate flights for affected passengers.
The Minister assured that necessary proactive measures will be taken to prevent such incidents in the future. He also expressed his condolences for the loss of life in the canopy collapse incident at Terminal 1 of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport.
"The incident that happened at the Delhi airport is very tragic, and I offer my condolences to the one individual who lost his life. Some people were also injured in the incident; they have been taken to the hospital and are undergoing treatment," Ram Mohan Naidu said.
He further stated that the situation is under control.
"We have taken control of the situation, and as soon as the incident was reported, all the emergency response teams, including teams of NDRF and CISF, immediately went to the spot and engaged in relief operations to prevent any further damage," he said.
To ensure such incidents don't recur, the MoS said, "We don't want a similar incident to happen again, so we have brought in a special team from IIT Delhi's structural engineering department. They will provide an initial inspection report. Based on this, necessary actions will be taken to prevent such incidents."
"We will ensure a structural preliminary inspection is done at all airports. We have sought a report from all the airports across the country within two to five days, upon which we will determine the necessary measures to prevent such incidents in the future," he further added.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) announced on Saturday that operations at Terminal 1 will remain suspended till further notice.
Terminal 1 handles domestic flights, including those by IndiGo and SpiceJet. All operations have been temporarily shifted to Terminal 2 and Terminal 3.
"Flight operations at Delhi airport are normal and operating from Terminal-2 & 3 only. All flights from Terminal-1 have been shifted to Terminal-3 and Terminal-2," Delhi airport said in a post on X.
According to officials, the incident has impacted around 21,690 passengers of IndiGo and around 925 passengers of SpiceJet.