An Aircraft technician and service engineer who works in Air India Airlines died yesterday in Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport when he was sucked into the engine of A-319 aircraft which is getting ready to take off. Later the engineer was identified as Ravi Subramanian.  Sources said that the accident occurred as the plane’s parking brakes were not deployed due to, which the plane moved forward leading to the death of the engineer.

The incident took place at around 8.30 pm when the aircraft is ready to operate the Mumbai-Hyderabad AI flight 619. An aircraft can only move forward and so needs external help to reverse from the parking bay. A tow van is used to push back the aircraft and the process is carried out with an engineer positioned in front of the aircraft nose, so as to be visible to the pilots.

According to sources, the aircraft is pushed back with the towing bar and once the plane reached the taxi-way a pin attached to the nose landing gear is removed by the technician. The removal of the pin allows the nose landing gear to retract after takeoff. Once this is done, a signal is given to the pilot that the plane is cleared for taxiing. However, the plane’s parking brake was not deployed due to which it moved forward and the technician got sucked in.

The flight was being piloted by a new co-pilot and a seasoned commander AG Sharma. Subramanium, the technician (service engineer), was supervising the push back. “No one knew what happened. All of a sudden we hear that we heard that the technician has been sucked into the engine,” said an airline source.

The mishap occurred when the co-pilot of flight 619 mistook a signal for starting the engine. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said, “This is a sad incident. We have lost the life of a young technician. Air India Chairman and DGCA officials will visit the site for further investigation, whoever is found guilty will be booked.” The Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Air India have ordered a probe into the incident.

Air India Chairman Ashwani Lohani said the incident 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. We are deeply saddened and regret the tragic incident at Mumbai airport this evening when an Air India technician died in a mishap during pushback of flight AI 619. The incident is being investigated. Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.”