NEW DELHI (AFP): Air India on Friday (Oct 12) grounded two pilots after one of its jets carrying 136 people hit an airport perimeter wall on take-off and then flew for almost four hours with a damaged body, officials said.

The Boeing 737 suffered the damage as it left Trichy in southern India bound for Dubai.

Officials at the airport in Tamil Nadu state "observed that aircraft might have come in contact with the airport perimeter wall", said an Air India statement.

"The matter was conveyed to the pilot in command. The pilot in command reported that the aircraft systems were operating normally. It was decided to divert the aircraft to Mumbai as a precautionary measure."

The jet landed in Mumbai four hours later and pictures of the damaged aircraft went viral on social media soon after it landed safely. The 130 passengers were moved to a new flight to Dubai.

Air India said the two pilots were "derostered pending investigation" and the incident had been reported to India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation for an investigation.

"The airline is fully cooperating with the investigation," it added.

Looks like Air India Express plane would have been badly damaged. The flight was going to Dubai from Trichy. In Mangalore crash it was coming from Dubai. All good thankfully. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/srWgaltY3w — Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) October 12, 2018

This Air India Express Boeing 737-800 which rammed into the boundary wall and clipped runway ILS instrumentation would have been hurtling down the runway at about 250 kms ... Its a miracle it flew and a miracle that there were no casualties. pic.twitter.com/NPy5VQDPVA — Vishnu Som (@VishnuNDTV) October 12, 2018

Civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday said the government had recently ordered an independent "airline safety" review of Air India.

Air traffic in India is booming but Prabhu said on Twitter that the "safety of the passengers is of paramount importance for us". - AFP