An Air India Boeing 737-200 aircraft missing for 13 years has been discovered abandoned at a remote section of Kolkata airport, revealing major asset management failures at the formerly state-run carrier.
The 43-year-old aircraft, registration VT-EHH, was parked at the airport in 2012 but subsequently disappeared from all official records including fixed asset registers, depreciation schedules, insurance lists and maintenance forecasts.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson explained in an internal memo that the plane was repeatedly excluded from asset inventories years before the airline's privatization, leading to it being completely "forgotten" and omitted from Tata Group's acquisition valuation.
The discovery occurred only when Kolkata airport officials recently requested removal of idle aircraft. The plane has now been transferred to Rajasthan state where it's expected to be converted into an aircraft-themed restaurant, following a similar fate for another abandoned plane VT-EGG.
Wilson acknowledged the incident reflected "structural documentation chaos" from the national carrier era but emphasized post-privatization improvements including IT system overhauls and updated maintenance standards. The airline hasn't disclosed the buyer or sale price for VT-EHH.
The case has stunned aviation circles, highlighting concerns about oversight systems when aircraft can vanish from documentation for over a decade.
