Three AI engineers suspended for nosewheel crash

Mumbai: Three Air India (AI) engineers have been suspended pending inquiry into Friday’s incident in which the nose gear of one of its aircraft collapsed during a routine pre-flight inspection.
"An inquiry into the incident has begun and one aircraft maintenance engineer, one assistant engineer and one service engineer have been suspended," said an AI spokesperson. The damaged aircraft was taken back to the AI hangar on Friday night.
The mishap occurred in the afternoon when a leased Boeing 777-200 ER was being readied to operate a Mumbai-Dubai flight.
The plane was berthed in a nose-in bay with its door opening into an aerobridge tunnel. "The engineer retracted the aircraft’s landing lever without putting the nose-pin in place. A nose-pin is a titanium pin fixed on top of the nosewheel during ground inspections to prevent the nosewheel from collapsing into aircraft when the landing lever is retracted," said the source.
18/05/08 Times of India

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Categories: Air India - International May 2008, Airports May 2008, NACIL May 2008, Safety May 2008