A man working for Air India has died after being sucked into a jet engine after a “mishap”.

The freak accident happened as the plane pushed back for take-off at Mumbai airport, the airline said.

It reportedly happened after the co-pilot of flight Al 619 to the southern city of Hyderabad mistook a signal from ground staff and started the engine.

Maintenance man Ravi Subramanian, who was standing close by, was sucked into the engine and died instantly.

India’s national carrier said on Twitter that he had “died in a mishap during pushback of flight AI 619”.

Tha airline sent its “heartfelt condolences” to the man’s family and its boss, Ashwani Lohani, said he was “deeply saddened”.

A source told the Hindustan Times: “At the moment, we are absolutely clueless on how this person was near the aircraft.

Sky