Pilot, co-pilot, engineer de-rostered; pushback operator suspended

The commander of Air India flight IC 719, his co-pilot and an Air India aircraft maintenance engineer have been de-rostered following an incident at Mumbai airport in which the door of an aircraft was damaged as the aircraft was being pushed back, with the door still docked to the aerobridge.

They have been taken off the roster pending an inquiry into the matter and the airline's pushback operator has been placed under suspension.

The door of the Mangalore-bound flight came off as the instruction for pushback — towing an aircraft in reverse, from the parking bay or an airport gate, to the runway by a tug or a specially-designed tractor — was given when the door was still attached to the aerobridge.

This is the first such incident at Mumbai airport, and probably anywhere else.

It was caused as premature pushback instructions were given by the ground handling staff, airport officials said. Had any passengers been on the bridge or the transit area at the time of the incident, they could have been hurt.

An Air India spokesperson said. “The aircraft suffered damage but all 172 passengers are safe.”

The 172 passengers of the flight, which was supposed to depart at 10:30 am, were shifted to another aircraft which took off at 12:40 pm.

“Eventually pushback instructions to the new aircraft were given at 12:20 pm and it was airborne at about 12:40 pm,” added the spokesperson. According to an airport official, an enquiry into the incident will take place on Wednesday by a joint committee of members of the preliminary investigation board (PIB) of the airline and a four-member team from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

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