A baggage handler died after getting sucked into the plane engine at Montgomery Regional Airport on Saturday.
The identity of the person killed in the accident has not yet been released but was an employee of Piedmont Airlines, a regional subsidiary of American Airlines.
The airport ground worker was killed while the American Airlines flight was parked at the gate after arriving from Dallas around 3 pm on Saturday.
“Today around 3 pm an American Airlines ground crew piedmont employee was involved in a fatality, no additional information is available at this time,” the airport said in a tweet. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased.”
Reuters reported:
A worker was fatally injured on the ramp at Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama where an American Airlines (AAL.O) regional carrier flight was parked, the Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident that occurred where American Airlines Flight 3408, an Embraer E175, was parked at the gate after arriving from Dallas. The FAA said the airport was closed after the incident.
Two people briefed on the matter said the initial investigation indicates the employee was killed in an accident involving one of the airplane’s engines that was running.
The flight was operated by Envoy Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group (AAL.O).
The airport said a ground crew worker for Piedmont Airlines, another American regional subsidiary, was killed but did not elaborate.
Airport officials announced in a Tweet on Sunday that inbound and outbound passengers from AA/Piedmont flight 3408 can retrieve baggage directly from the American Airlines ticket counter.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, which is standard for aircraft-related accidents involving injuries and fatalities. The FAA said NTSB would be in charge of the investigation and would provide additional updates.
