Airport drama: Man sucked into jet engine!

An employee of an American airline was killed on Saturday, December 31, 2022, after being sucked into the engine of a plane parked on the tarmac at Montgomery airport (United States). Given the violence of the accident, all passengers were evacuated immediately. An investigation has been opened.

The accident that occurred on December 31 at Montgomery airport in the United States was incredibly violent. As he drove on the tarmac, an airline employee Piedmont Airlines was aspirated, around 3 p.m. , by the engine of a parked aircraft , reports in a press release relayed by CNN on National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). He died instantly .

“We are saddened to learn of the tragic loss of a member of the AA/Piedmont Airlines team” , said Saturday in this press release Wade A. Davis, executive director of this airport in the state of Alabama. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time.' On Twitter, the airline, which employed the victim of this accident, also wanted to send its support to those close to it and indicated that it had deployed a psychological help cell for family, friends and colleagues.

Today a Piedmont Airlines team member was involved in a fatal accident at Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM). Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleague's family and friends. We have mobilized our CARE team to provide support to our colleague's family, friends and co-workers.

— Piedmont Airlines (@piedmontair) January 1, 2023

Airport closed urgently

The aircraft, an Embraer 170 operated by regional carrier Envoy Air, 'parked at the gate with the parking brake on when a ground support staff was sucked in' , the NTSB said. He was preparing to take off to Dallas, says the Canadian news site VAT News . Given the seriousness of the accident, the airport was urgently closed, before reopening around 8:30 p.m.

An ongoing investigation

The identity of the employee has not yet been made public, while the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Safety Agency continue to investigate the accident. A first report is awaited 'within two to three weeks' , according to the NTSB at site Insider .

Relatively frequent accidents

When a jet engine is running, it creates an area of ​​low air pressure at the entrance, explains on its website the manufacturer Boeing . This zone brings a large quantity of air into the turbine, which moves at an increasingly high speed as one approaches the engine. 'Consequently, the amount of suction from the engine is low until one approaches the inlet, where the suction increases significantly ', concludes Boeing by alerting to this trap.

According to the manufacturer, there have been since 1969 '33 cases of reported ingestions of personnel' in a Boeing 737-100 and 737-200 aircraft engine, one of which was fatal. 'There have also been four reports of fatal ingestion incidents on 737-300/-400/-500 and 737 Next Generation aircraft' , the most recent of which was in 2016, he adds.