New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) A hydraulic trolley carrying food items hit Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s aircraft Thursday leading to a delay in his departure for Copenhagen for the UN climate summit.
Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office said the trolley hit the aircraft while loading food items that resulted in minor damage to the official aircraft. The flight was scheduled to take off at 2.45 p.m.

Neither the Prime Minister nor any other passengers were on board at the time of the incident.

“A technical team is looking into the matter. It is a minor hitch and they want to take extra precaution,” said a PMO official.

Officials in the PMO said the flight would be delayed by a couple of hours.

A standby aircraft was being made ready for the Prime Minister’s visit to Copenhagen for attending the climate change conference.

Manmohan Singh was originally scheduled to leave in a smaller aircraft along with his official team to send out a bigger message on improving India’s carbon footprint.

However, the prime minister will leave on the regular Air India flight accompanied by his compact team comprising eight members including Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Climate Change Shyam Saran, besides other senior officials.

“The security component is a big one,” said an official.