Committee to probe AI fire mishap, pilots grounded

A four-member in-house committee has been set up to probe the Air India fire incident that took place at the Mumbai International Airport on Friday.

Air India has de-rostered the two pilots of the plane to make them available for an enquiry into the incident.

"A preliminary enquiry by the DGCA is going on. They have asked us to ensure the availability of the two pilots and we have agreed," an Air India spokesperson said.

According to reports, Director General of DGCA Nazeem Zaldi has confirmed that the pilots have been de-rostered.

eanwhile, it has also been reported that preliminary reports of the four-member in-house committee suggest that there have been lapses on part of the pilots.

Nearly 200 passengers were on board on Riyadh bound Air India flight (AI-829) when the aircraft's left engine caught fire while taking off.

Ruling out the possibility of a technical snag leading to the grounding of the aircraft at the Mumbai airport, aviation experts said the fuel leaked onto the heated engines of the aircraft and that had caused the fire.

They said that timely information provided by a passenger led the crew to stop the flight from taxing off the runway for Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

Flight 829 was immediately grounded when sparks were detected flying out of one of the engines.

The 213 passengers onboard were evacuated by slides to safety. Four fire engines, other equipment and personnel were rushed to the spot.