Both the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the death of a ground crew employee at Alabama’s Montgomery Regional Airport over the weekend.
The airport announced via Twitter that ground personnel died around 3 p.m. on Saturday, AL.com report. Officials in Alabama have halted flights after a Piedmont Airlines worker was “swallowed into the engine” at the gate of an American Airlines plane. Are from Today:
The National Transportation Safety Board said ground personnel, who have not been identified, were near a plane that had just landed at the airport from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
The statement said the plane was parked at the gate with the parking brake on “when a ground support worker was swallowed into the engine”. “The NTSB has opened an investigation into the accident.”
The agency also said the local government would release the names of the workers. A preliminary report is expected in a few weeks.
Airport operations resume at 8:30pm
Piedmont Airlines is operated by American Airlines, which also released a statement following the death. The plane was an American Airlines Embraer E175 operated by Envoy Airlines, a regional airline also wholly owned by American Airlines.
victim’s name and further Details of the death are not revealed, though CNN Report a ground crew member standing on a ramp, or runway, when incidents. Ramp workers are Industry term for baggage handlers. These are the people you see outside the plane loading their bags.
Aviation news website One mile at a time reports that jet engines often shut down when ramp workers are busy:
Generally, the motor won’t run during this time, so the big question is what could be causing this problem. Did the auxiliary power supply unit (APU) fail and the slider approached one of the engines while it was still running with idling thrust?
“Our focus is on making sure that everyone involved gets the support they need during this difficult time,” American said.
