Fatal walk measured 45 feet

Amrita Roy was stranded almost in the middle of aerobridge number 55 at Hyderabad airport when its retracting springs trapped her entire right arm, according to colleagues who witnessed Sunday’s tragedy.

Those who appeared before the three-member probe team, led by the airport’s deputy CEO Vikram Jai Singhania, said they had stepped off the aerobridge when Amrita screamed for help. With the Air Asia employee being around 55 feet behind them, they got little time to jump back and rescue her.

“Everyone except the victim was safely on the other side of the aerobridge, which is around 100 feet in length. She had covered around 45 feet when the incident occurred,” an airport official revealed.

Doctors at the airport’s Apollo Medical Centre told the probe panel that Amrita died of neurological shock within 37 minutes of the mishap.

Sources said the probe team — including the COO of Delhi airport, Peter Noyce — went through the closed-circuit television footage.

They also interrogated the aerobridge operator and security officials who oversaw boarding on Sunday’s Kuala Lumpur-bound flight.

An aerobridge operator at the airport said it normally took five to seven minutes for the bridge to fold up after the “all-clear” command.

He suggested that Amrita might have got stranded in the middle of the aerobridge while going back to retrieve her purse, cellphone or something else.

“Maybe in her hurry to return she lost her balance and her hand got stuck somewhere in the middle of the bridge,” added a police officer.

According to the FIR, the entire right portion of Amrita’s arm up to her shoulder was crushed by the retracting springs as she screamed and struggled to free herself. “The aerobridge was stopped after the mechanics heard her screams. She had fainted by the time they reached her,” the officer added.

Sources said no technical snag had been detected in the aerobridge so far.


G.S. Radhakrishna, The Telegraph Metro