In a freak accident, Rohit Pandey, a SpiceJet technician, died after he got stuck in the hydraulic door flaps of the main landing gear of a Q400 aircraft he was attending at the Kolkata airport early on July 10.

In a statement, SpiceJet said: “We are extremely saddened to share that our technician Mr. Rohit Pandey passed away last night in an unfortunate incident at the Kolkata airport.

“Mr. Pandey was doing maintenance work in right hand main landing gear wheel well area of a Q400 aircraft which was parked in Bay No. 32 at Kolkata airport on July 10, 2019. Inadvertently, the main landing gear hydraulic door closed and he got stuck in between the hydraulic door flaps.

“The hydraulic doors were broken to rescue Mr. Pandey but he was declared dead. The entire SpiceJet family stands together in grief in this unfortunate incident.”

Aircraft maintenance engineers The Hindu spoke to said such an accident was rare.

“I have never heard such a thing in my 26 years career. The truth will come out after proper investigation. Either he has not followed the Standard Operating Procedure or was instructed wrongly by a senior to get the work done quickly to send the aircraft. In the private sector, the pressure is too much,” a senior aircraft mantelpiece engineer said.

Each aircraft has three landing gears, two under the wings (called main landing gears) and one below the pilot’s seat.