In an unfortunate incident at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport, a member of the ground staff of national carrier Air India was killed after he was sucked into the engine of an aircraft that was being pushed back.
The employee who was killed was identified as Ravi Subramanian.
Representational image | Source: Reuters
Since a plane can only moves forward, it needs external force provided by a tow van to push it backwards, and an engineer stands in front of the aircraft nose in the process. Subramanian, a technician, was supervising the push back of the aircraft.
Although the flight was being operated by an experienced commander A G Sharma, the co-pilot was a new one, reports The Times Of India.
“During the pusback, the co-pilot mistook a signal for engine start. As he switched on the engine, it sucked in the technician standing nearby,” Air India sources told PTI.
Representational image of an aircraft engine | Source: Reuters
The Times of India explained that in the case of this particular aircraft the auxillary power unit, which is used to keep the cabin air-conditioned and used to start the engines while it is on ground, wasn’t working.
An airline pilot explained to the newspaper that the pilots might have had to start one engine while it was being pushed back, and the mishap might have taken place while it was being revved to start the other engine.
The body of Subramanian was recovered in a mutilated state and even the passengers of the plane were reportedly traumatised after hearing of the incident.
Air India Chairman and MD, Ashwani Lohani told PTI, “We are deeply saddened and regret the tragic incident at Mumbai airport this evening when an Air India technician died in a mishap during push back of flight AI 619. The incident is being investigated. Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.”
(Feature image source: Reuters)