Horrific Accident at Alabama Airport Claims Life of Ground Crew Member

A day that began normally for an unnamed employee and other workers at the Montgomery Regional Airport turned into one filled with sadness. According to reports, a young man who worked as a ground support personnel was doing his duties when an accident occurred at about 3 p.m., leading to his demise.

Reports revealed that on that day, an Embraer 170 aircraft was reportedly at the gate with its parking brake set at the time. Details of how the accident occurred remained under wraps, but according to reports, the employee who worked for Piedmont Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was ingested into the plane's engine, suffering fatal injuries which led to his death.

Shortly after the incident, the airport's executive director, Wade A. Davis, released a statement announcing the employee's death. Wade began by noting that everyone was saddened to hear about the tragic loss of a team member of Piedmont Airlines. Next, he sent his thoughts and prayers to the grieving family members.

To conclude the statement, the executive director made it clear that they were focused on ensuring that all involved had the support they needed. In addition to the statement, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration announced they had launched an investigation on the matter.

Unfortunately, the deceased's identity and details of the accident weren't released, but according to reports, following the incident, all flights at Montgomery Regional Airport were grounded. The airport didn't resume operations until about 8:30 pm on that same day.

When a jet engine is in operation, the air getting sucked into the intake can cause a low air pressure area that can pull nearby people into the rotating blades. But when parked, cones are placed near the engines to mark the boundaries of the hazard areas, the exact sizes of which are provided in the plane’s operating manual.

Considering the analysis, It is rare for ground personnel to be sucked into engines because they are trained about the dangers and how to stand clear of them. However, it is not impossible. If the jet engine is powered up, even if idling, the engines require huge volumes of air to work. To that end, jet engines use a compressor to "suck" the air through the engine.

Requiring an estimated 1.2 million tons of air per second, these compressors are incredibly powerful, to say the least. So much so that even if idling, the suction the engines create is powerful enough to lift an adult human and suck them into the engine. In the meantime, netizens are demanding an answer from the airport. Hopefully, the investigations will provide some answers.

The unidentified employee's story is only one of the many hazards that occur at the airport. Not long before his story went viral, another incident occurred at another airport. This time, a man's body was found on a TUI plane that had flown from Gambia to London's Gatwick Airport. The unidentified Black male was discovered in the plane's undercarriage during the early hours of the day.