The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday launched separate enquiries into Wednesday’s freak mishap at the Mumbai airport, in which a service engineer died after getting sucked into the engine of a plane, even as Air India announced an ex-gratia of `5 lakh and a job to the family of its deceased engineer Ravi Subramanian.
As per standard operating procedure, the pilot and co-pilot of the plane were taken off the flying duties, pending two separate inquiries into the incident.
The mishap took place at around 8.40 pm on Wednesday at the Bay 28 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, when Mumbai-Hyderabad AI 619 flight was being pushed into position for its scheduled take-off at 8.45 pm. Subramanian — who was doing some maintenance work on the runway near the Mumbai-Hyderabad AI 619 flight — got sucked inside the engine and died instantly.
While the officials of the DGCA began investigations into the death of AI service engineer Subramanian within a few hours after the incident, the AIAB launched a separate inquiry into the mishap on Thursday morning.
The AAIB, a dedicated both appointed by the Civil Aviation Ministry to investigate accidents, is manned by employees from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The bureau was carved out of DGCA in 2012.
Air India’s Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani lohani said: “We have lost a family member. An ex-gratia amount of `5 lakh has been given to the family. We have offered a job to the family of the victim”.
Subramanian’s funeral will take place on Friday. Mourning the death of Subramanian, the Air India staff members across the country on Thursday observed a two-minute silence in memory of the deceased service engineer.
“DGCA is conducting an inquiry so it will not be proper to comment on that but initially it seems that there was some communication gap. No disciplinary action has been taken against anyone till now,” lohani said.
In a statement issued earlier on Wednesday night, lohani had said: "We are deeply saddened and regret the tragic incident at Mumbai airport. Our heart-felt condolences to the bereaved family”.
Eyewitness said the mishap took place when the co-pilot mistook a signal for starting the engine and Subramanian, who was standing close to the runway, got sucked into it at Bay No 28 of the airport. “During the push back, the co-pilot mistook a signal for engine start. As he switched on the engine, it sucked in the technician standing nearby,” the airline said.
Subramanian’s body was recovered in a mutilated condition. After the incident, passengers on board the Mumbai-Hyderabad AI 619 flight were de-planed. They were taken to their destination in another flight that left an hour later from the Mumbai airport.