Air India has grounded two of its pilots after a dispute between the pair just before takeoff, the airline has said.

The captain and first officer came to blows in the cockpit as they were preparing the passenger plane for departure from the Rajasthan city of Jaipur to Delhi on Sunday night.

The first officer was irritated by his superior’s request to write down critical information for the flight, such as the number of passengers on board, takeoff weight and fuel uptake, the Times of India reported.

“The co-pilot took offence at this and reportedly beat up the captain,” the newspaper said, quoting unnamed sources. “In the larger interest of the airline, the commander decided to go ahead with the flight and flew to Delhi,” the paper added.

The Hindustan Times also said there had been a fight between the two, according to its sources.

The airline denied any violence took place, saying there was only an argument between the pair, according to the Press Trust of India.

“There were only heated exchanges between the commander and co-pilot over some issue. We have already de-rostered the two pilots pending an enquiry,” an Air India spokesman told the news agency.

The carrier could not be reached for comment.

Air India, which has not reported an annual profit since 2007, has been hit by a string of technical glitches and other embarrassing incidents, including staff turning up late for flights.

Many airlines have introduced a rule requiring two crew members in the cockpit at all times following the crash of a Germanwings plane last month.

The first officer of Germanwings flight 4U9525, Andreas Lubitz, appears to have deliberately flown the plane into a mountainside in the French Alps after locking the captain out of the cockpit, killing all 150 people on board.