Mumbai : In a horrifying accident, an aircraft technician was torn to shreds after being sucked into the engine of an Air India aircraft during push back at the Mumbai airport on Thursday evening. The freak mishap occurred when the co-pilot of Mumbai-Hyderabad Flight 619 mistook a signal for starting the engine and the victim, Ravi Subramanian, who was standing close by, got sucked into it. It is unclear how the ground crew member had got into a position where he was sucked into the engine. The technician was killed instantly. The accident happened at Bay 28 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji domestic airport at around 8:40 pm when the aircraft was parking.
The incident will raise fresh concerns over health and safety standards across India’s transport infrastructure. Accidents of this nature are extremely rare — despite the huge growth in air traffic in recent decades. Air crew maintain aircraft when they are parked and the engines have been turned off. Unconfirmed late night reports said the pilot of Air India aircraft has been grounding, pending an inquiry into the mishap. Confirming the incident, Air India Chairman Ashwani Lohani said the matter is being investigated. “During the pushback, 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 said. Lohani said he was deeply saddened by the tragic incident and expressed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Input:
