Air India on Thursday evening grounded the pilot and co-pilot of the flight involved in the accident at Mumbai's international airport in which a technician died the day before. Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani had said that the incident appeared to be a result of a communication gap.

Earlier on Thursday, Lohani had announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a job for the family of Ravi Subramanian, 56, who was sucked into the engine of Mumbai-Hyderabad flight AI 619 at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Wednesday. "We have lost a family member," Lohani said.

The accident took place after the pilot was signalled to reverse before takeoff, but misread it as an indication to start the engines. Subramanian was standing near the aircraft’s nose wheel and got sucked in. The remains of the mutilated body could not be sent for a postmortem.

The Mumbai police registered a case of accidental death. Virendra Mishra, zonal deputy commissioner of police, told The Indian Express that no one appeared to be at fault, going by preliminary evidence.