The roadways in India have seen significant improvements in recent years, witnessing the construction of numerous flyovers, overbridges, and elevated roads. These structures, while aiding transportation, often pose limitations for heavy vehicles transporting machinery, vehicles, and bulky items like...

The roadways in India have seen significant improvements in recent years, witnessing the construction of numerous flyovers, overbridges, and elevated roads. These structures, while aiding transportation, often pose limitations for heavy vehicles transporting machinery, vehicles, and bulky items like train locomotives and aircraft. Although most heavy vehicles manoeuvre under these structures without issues, high cargo heights can cause substantial problems. A recent incident involving a truck carrying an aircraft getting stuck under a bridge highlights this issue.

Video: Plane Gets Stuck Under Bridge In Bihar, Causes Massive Traffic Jam https://t.co/4VnGV0OPg5 pic.twitter.com/fk7RkrR41w

— NDTV (@ndtv) December 30, 2023

During transit from Mumbai to Assam, a decommissioned plane became lodged under an overbridge in Bihar’s East Champaran district, causing a major traffic jam on the national highway. Eyewitnesses reported the plane’s entrapment under the Piprakothi bridge in Motihari, causing significant congestion on NH-27. A video circulated on social media, revealing a lane blockade due to the stuck vehicle.

Reports suggest that authorities arrived at the scene around 9 am, employing tire deflation methods to extricate the vehicle. A similar event occurred last November in Andhra Pradesh’s Bapatla district, where an airplane body became wedged in an underpass while en route from Kochi to Hyderabad.

Piprakothi’s station house officer mentioned that the lorry transporting the plane was safely removed, downplaying the incident. Often, iron barricades displaying flyover heights prevent such mishaps, but it seems this particular flyover lacked this precautionary measure. While most heavy vehicle drivers are mindful of their cargo height, it appears this truck driver wasn’t cautious enough about the aircraft’s dimensions.

In previous cases, deflating truck tires proved effective in creating sufficient clearance to pass through. However, this instance required more clearance, necessitating complete tire removal.

This is not the first time that a decommissioned aircraft has gotten stuck while being transported by road. 

#WATCH An @airindiain plane (not in service) got stuck under foot over bridge. Can anyone confirm the date and location?
The competition starts now pic.twitter.com/pukB0VmsW3

— Ashoke Raj (@Ashoke_Raj) October 3, 2021

Coming back to the latest incident, there are no reported damages to the flyover, but authorities will likely conduct thorough inspections for potential cracks or structural damage before reopening the route. Many onlookers gathered during the rescue, making it a spectacle. Nevertheless, utmost caution regarding cargo height remains crucial while navigating under such structures.

Pictures and videos of the incident quickly spread on social media, sparking a lot of opinions. Many pointed fingers at the truck driver and questioned if they were skilled enough to handle such big stuff. Some also talked about the road system and how well the government and police managed the situation.

After about three hours, the traffic jam got sorted out, but it’s not clear if the truck driver or owner got into any trouble for this. We’re not sure if the aircraft parts got damaged.

Moving such huge things is tricky. You need big trucks and drivers who know how to handle such massive stuff to move it safely.

Slow-moving oversized cargo

In an extraordinary incident that took place in 2020, a Volvo FM 12 truck embarked on a year-long journey across India during the pandemic. The truck began its expedition in July 2019 from Nashik, Maharashtra, with the destination set as the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Kerala. The truck was carrying a horizontal autoclave, a large and heavy cargo, which severely limited its daily progress to only about 5 km.

As a result, it took a remarkable 340 days, or nearly a year, to cover the distance of 1,700 km. The journey faced even more challenges when the truck got stranded for over two months due to the nationwide lockdown imposed in India to combat the spread of COVID-19.

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