Aircraft pushed with door open

An Air India (AI) aircraft’s door was damaged after the plane was pushed back even though the aerobridge had not been retracted and the door was open.

The director general of civil aviation (DGCA) is inquiring the matter while the airline has already derostered the two pilots and three others who were involved in the incident.  Interestingly, this incident occurs almost a year after a similar event took place last year.
On May 5, AI Mumbai-Mangalore flight IC 179 was parked at bay number 29, preparing for departure. All 172 passengers were on board. The flight, which was to depart at 11 am, was running 10 minutes and the aircraft’s front door, which opened into aerobridge R191, was still open.

Suddenly, the pushback tractor started pushing the aircraft back even thought the aerobridge was yet to be retracted.  “The tractor had pushed the aircraft about 1.5 meters when the noise from the door hitting the aerobridge made them realise that the aerobridge was still extended,” said a source at the airport.

As per the procedure, after boarding, the ground staff checks that all passengers are on board. Then, the aircraft door is closed and the pilot instructs the aircraft maintenance engineer on the ground that all formalities are over and they are ready for the pushback. “In this case, the doors were not closed and the pushback happened, which makes it a grievous act,” said the source.

Following the incident, the passengers were immediately deplaned and sent to Mangalore by another aircraft, which departed from Mumbai at 12.20 pm.