Airport engineer death: NHRC notice to aviation ministry, Air India

Mumbai, Dec 18: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday served notice to the civil aviation ministry and Air India on the death of an Air India (AI) service engineer who was sucked into an aircraft engine and killed two days ago.

NHRC member Justice D. Murugesan took suo moto cognizance of the incident in which the AI ground staffer, Ravi Subramanian, lost his life, and gave a fortnight's time to the ministry and Air India for reply to the notice.

Justice Murugesan observed that "the safety and security of both technical and non-technical staff are of great concern... Right to Life guaranteed under the constitution would include Right to Safety as well".

The NHRC feels that though the incident is pictured as "an accident", the media reports are otherwise.

In a freak accident, Subramanian was suddenly sucked in by an engine of an Airbus A-319 aircraft at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) here late Wednesday evening.

The incident occurred around 8.40 p.m. when the aircraft with at least 100 passengers was being prepared for a scheduled Mumbai-Hyderabad flight AI-619.

The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has already initiated a probe into the incident and AI has derostered the pilot and co-pilot of that aircraft pending the inquiry.

Simultaneously, Mumbai police have lodged an accidental death report on the incident which happened inside the CSIA territory.

Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani has announced a compensation of Rs.5 lakh and a job to the engineer's family member.

IANS