Bags fly as pilot starts engine with plane linked to aerobridge

New Delhi: In a major lapse, pilots of Oman Air reportedly started the engine of their aircraft at Indira Gandhi International airport on Oct 5 when the aerobridge and the bulk loader (from which baggage is loaded and offloaded from planes) were connected to the Boeing 737. Luckily, there were no injuries, but baggage on trolleys near the engine went flying, say sources.
"Boarding for the Delhi-Muscat flight was yet to begin.The aircraft was connected to the aerobridge and baggage belt. For ‘snag rectification', the pilots started the engine without clearance. It was a miracle that there was no one near the engine and, so, there were no injuries," an airport source said.
Comments were sought from Oman Air on this and awaited till the time of going to press.
Only after the boarding of passengers and baggage loading is completed and the aerobridge removed and doors closed, does the ground crew confirm to the pilots that they are ready to push back. The pilots then seek pushback and startup clearance from air traffic control. That is when the flight commences.
On getting the same, a tow truck initiates the pushing back of the aircraft with one person driving the truck and another, with a headphone connected to speak to pilots in the cockpit, walking alongside.
After the pushback is complete and the plane is ready to move, the pilots ask the other person on the ground, "Let me know when we can start?" After ascertaining that there is no one near the engine, the person on the ground says, "Clear to start."
All these precautions are taken to ensure that the engine is not started when there's someone close to it. There have been multiple cases of ground personnel getting sucked into a started engine across the world and losing their lives.