Forgotten Boeing Plane On Mumbai–Pune Highway: Know The Story Behind Maharashtra’s Most Unusual Roadside

A Boeing aircraft, once a part of Air Sahara's active fleet, now sits conspicuously on the Mumbai–Pune Highway in Maharashtra, India, far from its intended operational environment. This unusual roadside presence stems from a significant incident in 2005 when the aircraft overshot the runway at Mumbai airport during a commercial operation. The event rendered the plane severely damaged, initiating a complex decision-making process for the airline.

Following a thorough assessment, Air Sahara determined that the extensive repairs required to return the Boeing aircraft to airworthiness were not financially viable. The cost-benefit analysis led the Indian commercial airline to conclude that salvaging the airframe was economically impractical. Consequently, the airline opted to divest the damaged fuselage, selling it to a private Indian company rather than incurring the prohibitive expenses of restoration.

This commercial decision ultimately transformed a once-active passenger aircraft into a stationary landmark. The fuselage's journey from a critical airport incident to its current, unexpected location on a major Indian thoroughfare highlights the lifecycle and eventual fate of commercial aviation assets when operational incidents render them uneconomical for continued service.