NEW DELHI — An Air India jet suffered substantial engine damage after sucking in a cargo container while taxiing at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport early Thursday morning.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India's aviation watchdog, has announced a detailed investigation into the incident.

According to the airline, all the passengers are safe but the aircraft's engine was damaged and it has been grounded for repairs. There were around 240 passengers on board, but the exact number of crew members could not be ascertained.

The New York-bound Airbus A350 had returned to Delhi shortly after take-off on Thursday after Iran temporarily closed its airspace, forcing airlines to reroute flights.

After landing safely, the aircraft had left the runway and was taxiing to the parking bay with passengers on board when the cargo container was sucked into its right engine. Visibility was "marginal" due to dense fog at the time, the DGCA said.

According to India's ministry of civil aviation, the incident occurred around 05:25 local time (23:55 GMT on Wednesday) as the aircraft was taxiing toward the apron area, where aircraft are parked, loaded, unloaded and refuelled.

The cargo container had accidentally fallen from a ground vehicle "onto the taxiway intersection", it added.

An Air India spokesperson added that the container fell after a wheel came off a cart that was being towed by a vehicle used to move luggage and cargo around the airport. The vehicle operator noticed the aircraft taxiing in and left the area with the remaining cargo.

Photos shared by DGCA on X show damage to the aircraft's engine casing and fan blades, as well as debris lying on the taxiway. The DGCA said the debris was later cleared from the taxiway, and the aircraft was towed to at a designated stand.

The incident comes after a Singapore-bound Air India flight carrying around 190 passengers returned to Delhi earlier Thursday after the aircraft developed a technical issue mid-air.

According to PTI, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, operating flight AI 2380, received a fire warning after take-off, prompting the crew to turn back. The aircraft had been airborne for about an hour before it landed safely at the Delhi airport.

Confirming the incident, an Air India spokesperson said the operating crew decided to carry out a precautionary return to Delhi shortly after take-off due to a suspected technical issue. The passengers were later flown to Singapore on another aircraft . — Agencies