Mumbai: If you’re driving along the old Mumbai–Pune Highway anytime soon, slow down as you approach the now-defunct Nishiland Water Park. Hidden in plain sight, on a dusty plot right off the road, rests one of Maharashtra’s strangest landmarks, an abandoned Boeing 737 that has quietly become a viral attraction.
This aircraft once belonged to Air Sahara and was very much in the skies until 2005, when it overshot the runway at Mumbai airport. Media reports later revealed that repairing the damaged aircraft wasn’t financially viable, prompting the airline to sell its fuselage to a private Indian company. But the story only gets more bizarre from there.
During its road journey on a massive trailer, the jetliner got stuck in Chembur, turning the area into an impromptu aviation exhibition. Locals reportedly flocked to witness the surreal sight of a full-size commercial aircraft wedged between buildings and traffic, creating a spectacle that Mumbai remembers to this day.
Eventually, the aircraft was moved to Nishiland Water Park, purchased for over Rs 1 crore as a crowd-pulling attraction. For a while, it worked, visitors came for the slides but stayed for the plane. But when the park shut down a few years later, the Boeing too was abandoned once again, this time on the highway where it remains frozen in time.
Aircraft Used As Prop For Bollywood Films
Today, the grounded aircraft has a new purpose: showbiz. It is rented out for movie and ad shoots and has appeared in films like MS Dhoni and Tees Maar Khan. The interior, accessible to visitors for a Rs 100 entry fee, is surprisingly intact. Rows of seats, cabin windows, catering trolleys and a slightly makeshift cockpit with a printed instrument panel all add to its quirky charm. The yoke, interestingly, is real.
Set between the hills on one side and the highway on the other, the location is oddly picturesque. Lucky visitors may find the entrance open and can even park right beside the aircraft for that perfect Instagram shot. Otherwise, a short walk will lead you to one of Maharashtra’s most unexpected tourist curiosities, a forgotten Boeing resting quietly by the road, waiting for the next passerby to rediscover its story.
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