According to a report, a tragic incident occurred at San Antonio International Airport on Friday night when a Texas airport worker was tragically pulled into a jet engine and lost their life.
Shortly before 10:30 p.m., emergency crews were urgently summoned to the tarmac in response to distressing reports of a ground worker being "ingested" into the engine of a plane that had recently landed.
The incident unfolded as the Delta flight, arriving from Los Angeles, had only one engine operational at the time.
From The New York Post:
“Delta Flight 1111 was taxying to the gate, with one engine on at that time, and a worker was ingested into that engine at 10:25 p.m,” the NTSB said in a statement to KENS5.
An investigation into the worker’s death is ongoing.
“The NTSB has been in contact with Delta. They are in the information gathering process at this point,” the Transportation Board added.
The unidentified worker was employed by Unifi Aviation, a company that contracts workers to airlines like Delta that provides ground handling operations.
“Unifi Aviation is deeply saddened by the loss of our employee at San Antonio International Airport during a tragic incident in the late hours of Friday, June 23, 2023,” the service company said on Saturday, according to the outlet.
“Our hearts go out to the family of the deceased, and we remain focused on supporting our employees on the ground and ensuring they are being taken care of during this time.”
The company stated that its initial investigation could not link the death to any of the operational safety procedures the company has in place.
Although the full details of this incident have not been fully disclosed, there are aspects that raise concerns.
The occurrence of individuals being "sucked" into a plane engine is exceptionally rare, making it all the more perplexing. It strongly suggests that there may have been a malfunction or operational error at play.
