Minor scare as aircraft pushback tractor catches fire at Mumbai airport

The incident took place at around 10.45am when the tractor was about to be attached to an A320 aircraft that was being prepared for departure to Jamnagar as flight AI-647

NEW DELHI: An aircraft pushback tractor, also called ‘tug’, briefly caught fire at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Monday morning.

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The incident took place at around 10.45am when the tractor was about to be attached to an A320 aircraft that was being prepared for departure to Jamnagar as flight AI-647.

The blaze was quickly extinguished by airport fire services personnel and no damage to the ground staff or to the aircraft was reported.

“In a video, the aircraft appears closer [to the fire than where it was]... It was a good 20 feet or more away from the equipment that caught fire. The aircraft was not connected to the tractor,” said an airport official who was present on the spot when the fire broke out.

An Air India spokesperson later said, “The fire was brought under control immediately. The cause of the fire is being ascertained.”

When asked about whether the fire caused any damage, the airline’s spokesperson said, “No injuries, no damage to anything else was reported. We are checking with the airport ground handler (Air India Airport Services Ltd) for more information.”

Aviation safety expert Mohan Ranganathan said, “Even if a tow tractor is connected to an aircraft, it will be ahead of the nose of the aircraft, not right under it. So, as long as the airport fire services respond immediately and reach the spot on time, they should be able to handle the situation well. Moreover, any airline is supposed to have a hand-operated fire extinguisher near the aircraft in case of an emergency. There can be a concern when such a [fire] situation happens while an aircraft is being pushed backwards.”

According to flightradar24, the Swedish service that displays real-time commercial aircraft flight-tracking information, the Air India plane was scheduled to take off at 11.50am but eventually departed after a delay due to the incident, at 12.04pm.