A committee investigating the Mumbai airport incident in December 2015 where a technician died after being sucked inside the aircraft, has requested Air India to ban entry of unauthorized persons in the cockpit, change its rostering system to ensure pilots reach the aircraft well before a flight and stop off-duty pilots taking flight clearance.
The investigation report into the incident blamed rostering lapses and pilot error for the accident. In addition to the ban, the committee has also asked the airline to issue guidelines that “crew must board aircraft 20 minutes prior to actual departure and minimum 30 minutes of time gap should be there in case of change of aircraft between two consecutive flights” and avoid “last minute changes in crew rostering”.