– A horrific accident occurred on the tarmac at Montgomery Airport. A luggage loader was sucked in by an engine for reasons that are not yet known. The rescue workers could only save the man dead.
The tragic incident happened on December 31 at the Montgomery airport in the state of Alabama. There, an American Airlines Embraer 175 was waiting at the gate for departure. The plane was scheduled to take off at 3:45 p.m. with flight number AA3408 to Dallas, Texas.
Shortly before the pilots were given taxi clearance, a man got sucked into the left engine and was literally swallowed up by it. The airport fire brigade and other rescue workers immediately rushed onto the runway. However, they could only salvage the dead man who worked as a baggage handler for American Airlines.
Investigations are ongoing
The airport was then completely closed for several hours. It is still unclear how the accident could have happened. The American aviation authority FAA confirmed to the media that the machine was still at the gate at the time of the accident.
Whether the pilots had already received clearance from the tower to start the engines or whether the worker had not heard the engines start because of his noise-protection headphones is now the task of the investigations by the NTSB aviation accident investigation authority.
Montgomery Airport confirmed the accident on Twitter and wrote: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased.” (Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased.)