An Air India plane came crashing down on the wall of a private building near Hyderabad's Begumpet airport this morning while being shifted with the help of a giant crane, which suddenly collapsed.

No one was injured in the accident that officials said was potentially disastrous.

An official said the 70-tonnes (CHK) A-320 aircraft, which is not in service, was being moved out of the airport to the Air India training academy at 7:00 a.m. when the crane lost its balance and collapsed.

The 200-tonnes crane crashed on the compound wall of the Hitech club near a school on the old Airport road. The plane was damaged.

"It was an unused aircraft and was being shifted to the training establishment at a distance of about 4 km from the airport for training purpose. Crane services had been engaged and while the aircraft was being lifted today, the crane bars got bent and it collapsed at around 7:15 a.m.," K Kiran, a police officer, said.

A gap was made in the airport boundary wall to allow the truck carrying the crane to move the aircraft to the training establishment 3 km away.

The plane had been parked in a hangar since 2007, when flight operations shifted from Begumpet to the new airport.

Sources say the Airports Authority of India had recently asked for the aircraft to be shifted.