Chennai, Nov. 19: A jeep rammed a stationary Deccan aircraft from the rear at Chennai airport early this morning, causing the plane to be grounded.

The 40-seater ATR-72 was parked in one of the bays in the small hours when the driver of a Jet Airways jeep, used for catering support, lost control and hit its tail.

There was nobody inside the Deccan (formerly Air Deccan) aircraft, which was scheduled to take off for Coimbatore at 6am.

It was severely damaged, as was the jeep, and lost its airworthiness, airport sources said. The jeep driver was not injured.

Last month, a woman aeronautical engineer working with Deccan was run over and killed by an airport vehicle on the Delhi airport tarmac. Officials had then said the aviation boom had left the tarmacs at Indian airports a crowded and chaotic place.

Two days ago, another Deccan flight narrowly escaped a tarmac accident in Coimbatore while passengers were boarding the plane.

The Mumbai-bound aircraft almost had one of its wings grazed by a Delhi-bound SpiceJet flight.

Chennai airport sources said other than the Deccan plane being grounded, today’s accident did not affect the flight schedule.