American Airlines has today been fined £70,000 after one of its workers had to have his leg amputated following an incident at Heathrow Airport.

On the evening of 11 November 2008 ground support worker Kulwant Bhara, 45, from Slough, was preparing an aircraft at Terminal 3 at London Heathrow Airport. A 70-tonne 'pushback tug', used to move aircraft from the departure gate, had finished manoeuvring a plane into position and was leaving the stand.

The vehicle was reversing when it knocked Mr Bhara to the ground, running over his right leg. He fractured his right ankle and left heel and suffered cuts to his head and left leg. As a result of the incident, his right leg had to be amputated just below his hip.

Mr Bhara who has not been able to work since, said: The incident has effectively turned my life upside down and has affected both myself and my family drastically in a number of different ways.

"Because of the difficulty of mobility, the pain I am in and the overall effect of [the] incident it means that I am unable to involve myself in the normal family events. I have to be careful at all times because of the mobility I have lost in which most people take for granted."
Source: HSE