Alabama: A ground worker at a regional airport in the US state of Alabama died after being sucked into the engine of an American Airlines jetliner, reports say.
The ground worker has not been identified and details of the accident have not yet been released.
New York Post reported that the worker was “ingested into the engine” of the Embraer 170’s engine at about 3 p.m. Saturday at Montgomery Regional Airport.
The flight had its parking brake set at the gate, when the accident occurred, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The victim was working for Piedmont Airlines, another American regional subsidiary, while the other flight was operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines Group.
“We are saddened to hear about the tragic loss of a team member of the AA/Piedmont Airlines,” the airport’s executive director, Wade Davis reportedly said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the accident.
The low-pressure area that is formed as a jet engine is operating with air getting sucked into it can pull nearby people into the rotating blades.
Usually, hazard area is marked off by placing cones near the engines to set boundaries when a jetliner is parked.
The exact sizes of the area to demarcate are given in the plane’s operating manual, according to the report.
The hazard area for an Airbus A320 is 14 feet in front of and on the sides of the engine inlet.
It is rare for ground personnel to be sucked into engines because they are trained about the dangers and how to stand clear of them, the report said.