Air India Engineer Dies After Being Sucked into Plane Engine During Pre-Flight Preparation

An Indian engineer working at the Mumbai airport lost his life after being sucked into the engine of an Air India plane late Wednesday evening. Ravi Subramanian, the engineer, was standing near the landing gear of the Airbus A319 aircraft when he was pulled into the engine as it was being towed backward from the parking bay. The incident has sparked an investigation by the country's civil aviation regulator.

Key Takeaways:

• The engineer, Ravi Subramanian, died after being sucked into the engine of an Air India plane during pre-flight preparation at the Mumbai airport.
• The incident occurred late Wednesday evening as the Airbus A319 was being towed backward from the parking bay in preparation for taxiing out.
• Passengers had boarded the aircraft for a flight to the city of Hyderabad, but it's unclear if any of them witnessed the incident.
• The country's civil aviation regulator is investigating the engineer's death, and Air India officials declined to provide further details.
• Air India's Chairman, Ashwani Lohani, expressed his condolences to Subramanian's family in a statement, and an official from the airline insisted that they follow all standard safety procedures.
• Staff had used an irregular engine start-up procedure due to the auxiliary power unit's failure, according to airline sources cited by The Times of India.
• This incident is believed to be the first of its kind in Indian aviation history, with the only similar case occurring 20 years ago in Hyderabad.

Statistics:

• 1: The number of aircraft involved in the incident (Airbus A319).
• 1: The number of engineers involved in the incident (Ravi Subramanian).
• 1: The number of fatalities resulting from the incident.
• 20: The number of years since a similar incident occurred at an Indian airport, when an unauthorized person rode a moped across the runway and was sucked into a plane engine.

Sources:

• CNN: An engineer at Mumbai airport died after being sucked into the engine of an Air India plane.
• The Times of India: Air India staff used irregular engine start-up procedure, says source.