An airport employee hired by Delta was killed after being sucked into a motorcycle on the tarmac at San Antonio International Airport.
Emergency services arrived at the incident around 10:25 p.m. on Friday evening.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has confirmed that the airline’s ground crew member died after they boarded the engine of a Delta Airlines plane. The agency described the worker as being “sucked in” to the engine.
The plane had just arrived from Los Angeles and was taxiing to a gate at the time of the accident.
Delta Flight 1111 had only one engine running when the employee, who has yet to be identified, was sucked in and killed.
Emergency services on the tarmac after a worker was sucked into the engine of the Delta plane in San Antonio
The plane stalled at the gate the next morning and flights at the airport were delayed.
Authorities are investigating the death of the airline’s ground crew member.
“Delta Flight 1111 taxied to the gate, with one engine running at the time, and at 10:25 p.m. an employee was swallowed in that engine,” the NTSB said in a statement.
“The NTSB has been in contact with Delta. They are currently collecting information.’
The employee worked for a company with which Delta Airlines has contracts to support ground handling.
It released a statement on Saturday saying, “We are heartbroken and mourn the loss of the life of an aviation family member in San Antonio.
“Our hearts and full support are with their family, friends and loved ones at this difficult time.”
San Antonio airport officials said they were “saddened” by the worker’s death.
“There was an accident last night at San Antonio International Airport that resulted in the death of an airline ground crew member,” it said.
“We are deeply saddened by this incident and are cooperating with authorities as they begin their investigation. We will share more information as more information becomes available.”
The employee’s associate, Unifi Aviation, said the “tragic incident” had nothing to do with safety procedures.
“Unifi Aviation is deeply saddened by the loss of our employee at San Antonio International Airport in a tragic incident in the late hours of Friday, June 23, 2023,” it said in a statement.
Emergency services arrived at the incident around 10:25 p.m. on Friday evening
Authorities are investigating the death of the airline’s ground crew member
“Our hearts go out to the family of the deceased and we remain focused on supporting our staff on the ground and ensuring they are cared for during this time.
“Our initial investigation determined that this incident was unrelated to Unifi’s operational processes, safety procedures and policies.
“Out of respect for the deceased, we will not share any additional information. While the police and other officials continue to investigate this incident, we defer to them to provide further details.”
This is the last incident to occur on the ground at a US airport in the past year.
An American Airlines subsidiary was fined $15,000 for the death of a ground crew member who was sucked into the engine of one of its planes.
Courtney Edwards, 34, was “sucked into the engine” on New Year’s Eve at Montgomery Regional Airport, Alabama.
The mother of three was on the apron where American Airlines Flight 3408, an Embraer E175, was parked before she died.
Piedmont Airlines was fined by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration after it was found responsible for a safety breach that led to her death.
Her union released a statement saying that Piedmont Airlines was convicted as “guilty of a grave misdemeanor.”
An American Airlines grant faces a $15,000 fine after airline employee Courtney Edwards died when she was so violently ‘sucked’ into the engine of a landed plane that the entire plane shook
Edwards worked as a ground agent for Piedmont Airlines
An obituary for Edwards states that she is survived by her three children
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a close call on the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on June 14 in which a plane attempting to land came within just 200 feet of another flight preparing to take off.
Authorities say an American Airlines flight from Dallas, Texas, arrived at the airport around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, while a Delta flight bound for Santa Ana, California, was preparing to take off.
Air traffic controllers could be heard in a recording of the incident telling the pilot of American Airlines Flight 2406 to cancel the landing and go around 30 left lane because Delta Air Lines Flight 1163, which had been cleared to land, was still in flight. the runway stood.
But after the controller instructed the American Airlines pilot to “fly around,” the plane passed above and to the left of the Delta Airbus A220 — to within just 200 feet vertically and 850 horizontally of each other.
The incident marks at least the fifth time this year that two planes narrowly missed each other at U.S. airports — and came just two days before a United Airlines plane backed into a Delta flight at Boston’s Logan Airport.
Dailymail.com has contacted Delta Airlines for comment.