On December 31, 2022, a tragic accident happened, whereby an airport ground worker was sucked into an engine. The NTSB has just released its preliminary report on this incident, so I wanted to share the details of that, since I know many were curious how something like this could happen.
Continue reading: American Airlines Ramper Sucked Into Engine: How It Happened
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I’m trying hard not to consider the details of this gruesome incident. So sad.
Per a friend who works for Envoy, the APU was inoperative and the #1 engine was running until the GPU was connected. The ramper was looking to open the baggage door on the left side, and came too close to the engine and was unfortunately ingested. The beacon light was on indicating the engines were not off.
After talking to friends who work for Piedmont (the ground handlers at MGM, another AA subsidiary), they mentioned that unfortunately they don’t really provide much safety training, and they’re mostly focused on getting enough D0 departures out. The industry as a whole needs to be overhauled to shift away from the D0 metric as it pits employee groups against each other and sacrifices safety.
Bag doors are on the otherside of an E175. My guess us they went to chock the plane and weren't paying attention that the engine was still running after arrival.
Tragic event probably caught on surveillance video. That should explain this accident.
I'm reminded of a video of a US Navy sailor getting sucked into the engine intake of an A-6 (don't remember if he made it or not). Horrible way to go.
For incidents like this, whose job is it to clean the engines, tarmac, etc. afterwards? I would assume that it is way too gruesome/traumatizing for the average airport/airline employee to handle.
Yup. Sounds like the person was attempting chock the wheels or about to open the cargo doors while the engine was still running.
He was fine as the engine had a cover in front of it so he didn’t get sucked in all the way.
Every so often a passenger will take a video of a wing marshaller doing his/her dance moves instead of focusing solely on doing their damn job safely. And invariably passengers think this is cute or entertaining. It’s not cute or entertaining. It is flat out dangerous.
That likely didn’t happen here but it reaffirms the fact that the ramp is an incredibly dangerous place. It is easy to lose situational awareness and to become complacent. A jet engine, or a spinning propeller at idle is still extremely powerful. Aviation accidents, in the air and on the ground, tend to happen quickly and are very unforgiving. There will be a full investigation into what happened but tragically a poor soul needlessly lost his life. I hope Piedmont uses this tragedy as training opportunity to convey the need to always pay attention to what you’re doing when working the ramp.
Dancing at the tip of the wind doesn’t cause this. Lack of situational awareness and walking in front of a running engine to open the cargo hold door causes this. AA tells you to enter when the beacon turns off (which people don’t pay attention to) at my airline you don’t enter the safety zone until the captain gives the engine cut sign to the marshaller who then relays that message to everyone else at the gate. Sounds like procedure changes need to be done at AA. Just relying on the beacon light obviously doesn’t cut it.
Let’s not be so quick to jump to conclusions as to the cause of this. Let’s not place blame on the victim. I speak from experience. The ramp is a very dangerous place, but there are many things that could have led to this accident, not necessarily a distracted ramp agent. Think about the family before posting such a critical comment.
Wow, that’s the first thing you think of in a tragedy like this? Have some compassion.
I would like to know the power thrust setting because it seems odd to me that a engine at idle power it could produce that kind of suction power at the gate !
This is the second time Piedmont has had this happen, the last time was into a prop of a Dash 8 in the summer of 2001. Very sad
I’m so sorry for the loss of life of this worker - my prayers to all concerned.
Prayers. As a passenger I would willing wait the extra time, have fewer flight choices and pay more to never have this happen again. As I read the comments, I understand the pressure and dangers the ground crew experiences. May this incident finally put safety first.
Beacon on, engine running. It's basic stuff that you're taught from Day 1.
Tragic, but on that basis I can't see any cause other than agent error, possibly under pressure to deliver a quick turnround.
Hello Carlos, yes, an engine at idle can create enough “suction” to draw a human into the intake with unfortunate fatal results as were seen in this situation. As many others have stated in the comments, you NEVER approach the aircraft/engine danger zones anytime the beacon is illuminated. God rest this persons soul and heartfelt sympathies to their family.
Quite obviously the prooer questions weren't asked, such as: What's your vector, Victor? Do we have clearance, Clarence? Have you ever seen a grown man naked?
Piedmont at MGM, uses cross functional employees - they work the ticket counter, gate, ramp, baggage svc, and operations. 2 weeks of training for each the ramp, and operations, the CS side would be a week long class for each work area. 5-7 weeks of training for someone new as the operations agents is usually someone with the prerequisite of the former.
All this knowledge and starting at $12.00 a hour. This is from their website, from a hiring post at MGM.
Jet blast, prop wash and the ingestion zones are the first, and frequently repeated lessons one learns when going thru the official training. Do not approach until the marshaller gives an all clear signal - meaning the engines are off and the spooling has decreased so the engine spiral is visible. At the very most, we are taught - even when the signal is given to make a visual of the engine spooling down has occurred before approaching.
Tragic! This can be prevented.
It can… sometimes the last few feet to the nose gear stop might require an extra thrust of the engine.
The ground power on an E175 is on the pilot’s side - that engine will shut down first so the electric can be connected and for the loading bridge’s approach . The side that will still supply electricity to the A/C will be on the 1st officer’s side - also where the cargo hold doors are located. ONLY the nose gear wheels are chocked in this type of irregular arrival ops. The cargo doors should remain un-approached, nor shall the main gear be chocked on either side until engine shutdown has occurred.
Color me shocked those hair dryer engines could generate that kind of suction while not moving the aircraft. Condolences to the family of the victim.
As someone who is familiar with the industry I can tell you that a lot of times they’re out there on their cell phones or with ear buds in and not paying attention. I’m not saying this is what happened but I’ve been witness to people that work on the ramp and walk around with their cell phone, looking down at it while they’re supposed to be working. Cell phones aren’t allowed on the ramp but a lot of times management will look the other way rather than confront the workers about it, especially if they are union. Don’t know if these rampers were union. Again, don’t know if that’s what happened here but it wouldn’t surprise me. My heart goes out to the employee that lost his life and the family of this employee.
They get what they pay for. These jobs used to be union and paid livable wages. Have you looked closely at the new hires?
Look closely...
It's a logical question. Usually it's a company that specializes in these kjnd of accidents or crime scenes. The
Po Po will do their investigation but they don't clean and you don't want coworkers doing it-too traumatic.
I know some of these people, it takes a strong person to do this. And it's a DEEP clean, every little speck must be removed.....
That was my first thought as well. The most plausible scenario in my head is that they weren't quite up to the line yet and the marshaller told the pilots to pull up a bit, and someone thought the plane had already stopped for good and walked up to it, only to have the engines power up to push the plane forward just a little bit more and suck the person in.
I read somewhere (can't remember where) that the long hair was how she was sucked by the engine, which sadly makes sense. Truly tragic event that in retrospective seems so avoidable. May she rest in Peace.
Why people(stupid) talk about what they don't understand?? This digital inclusion sometimes is unbearable
Seems such incidents are becoming more common. I think it's down to the detail.
Condolences to the family this is a tragedy. So many if us travelers take these workers for granted. They work hard. Hopefully American/Piedmont will take care of the family. May he rest in peace with the Lord.
I work the ramp at a different airport… A- the plane pulled in, came to its final stop, and one of the ground crew members prematurely walked up to the engine while it was still running (pilots shut down the engines shortly after coming to a complete stop, but occasionally they may continue running for another 30-60 seconds). Ground crew members get in a pattern and can easily jump the gun and approach the plane before the engines have spooled down. 100% employee error. B- occasionally a plane at the gate needs an air start which requires the engines to be started at the gate prior to being pushed out for taxi and take off. Air starts are not common and do cause some confusion or forgetfulness of procedures. A ground crew member could accidentally walk in front of a running engine during an air start. In either case, engines are very loud and it’s quite obvious when an engine is running. American has very clear safety procedures and protocols. It’s up to the employee to remember those safety procedures and follow them every time.
If you knew how often this could happen you'd be surprised, not just on the regional side.
The Navy guy survived, old Pratt & Whitney engines with a stationary inley guide vane case prevented him from going thru. Newer turbofan engines (like the GE CF34-10E that was involved) have a large rotating fan at the beginning of the inlet. They didn't stand a chance.
Was this person supposed to be on the ramp? How long was this person working on the ramp? Was he a cross-trained person that was trained recently? Was he following the safety guidelines set out for every job and every place of employment? Was he a union trained employee?
There's actually companies that specialize in this. They clean up after a murder has occurred in a home or some kind of accident that left a lot of blood, guts, etc.
This incredibly sad situation should never happen. I read that the APU wasn’t working & the engines were “on.”
Situational awareness may have been compromised by a worker, or workers attempting to rush to do their job. The plane, which allegedly landed 20 min. late, was scheduled to depart very soon.
The baggage handler may have felt time pressure and it could’ve compromised safety & situational awareness. Did this person get proper & complete safety training? Were they new? We’re they rushed? Did the marshal give the signal yet that it was safe to be near the jet? Many unanswered questions, but this never should happen. Somewhere in the safety protocol there was one or more failures to adhere to them. What a sad & avoidable tragedy. I hope more training is done in all of the airlines, with the entire team of people potentially involved in this type of preventable accident. I wonder how many hours of baggage & ramp safety training they got. Were they understaffed and he felt rushed and lost his situational awareness? Many factors outside of his control could be involved & have contributed to this horrible accident. It is heart wrenching.
APU was allegedly inoperable so the engines were still running while at the gate. Likely being rushed and possibly understaffed may be a huge factor. It can temporarily cause human error, regarding a lack of situational awareness. Very sad and preventable. The airlines have cut costs more and more and this might be one of the tragic results. You can never scrimp on training, safety or being properly staffed and having competent & knowledge workers. The pressure to rush or to compromise protocol, so a jet can depart on time, at the expense of their personal safety should never happen. Human error is likely the cause. Where was the marshal?
WHY did the baggage handler get near engines that were “on?” Very sad.
When I was a ramp agent in 1989, there was not a massive amount of training, but everyone had COMMIN SENSE (and I realize that very few people in our country have common sense anymore). No one ever got close to any turbine running, neither in front nor at the rear. Those of us that work down on the ramp made very good money and we also did numerous other tasks (tugs, k-loader, loading and unloading, marshaling, etc.) Mostly 727’s (United and UPS). Funny that we made great wages and regular individuals could fly from Tulsa to Denver for 2 days pay. WHAT HAS CHANGED? WHO are the people now employed for a little over Minimum Wage (“dreamers” aka those who wade across the Rio Grande at night/ guaranteed to vote Delmocrat?) Can anyone imagine The horror of being sucked into a blender and pulverized? I doubt if there was any pain but the whole thing is absolutely horrific. Really nice of American Airlines to give the family members consolation therapy. Wonder how much AA will offer $$$ to pay them off and shut them up.
It says that a 26 year old female allegedly had long hair that got caught in a ramp loading machine. They tried to cut it but couldn’t.
Aren’t there safety protocols/rules for baggage handlers, regarding how to wear their long hair, (ie. back & securely up for long hair), so it won’t get caught in a machine or be a potential safety or a visual issue for the staff person? This was a 100% preventable. Incredibly sad for all involved, that with all the airlines staff safety protocols, something still went terribly wrong. I hope the airlines learn from this, so this never happens again. Why did no staff notice the potential hazard BEFORE this occurred? They need to implement a buddy system where they are looking out for each other & the teamwork has no gaps. One can warn the other not to do something. Where was the Marshaller? There needs to be more checks & balances BEFORE a baggage handle approaches a jet.
Was this person new and still learning their job?
I thought OSHA rules apply until the plane reaches the Tarmac. Then FAA takes over?
Funny or better said, sad to see people jumping to conclusions like jumping in the wind, and opening the fwd Cargo door ( yes, the door is just a few feet away from intake Eng #2) . While being ingested in Engine #1.
Something went wrong, really wrong. Authorities will do their work. Just wait for the results.
A wife and a mom of 3 lost here life. Just Show some respect instead of throwing about unfunded hypothesis.
Nope, his belt got caught on the PT2 probe... That's the official account as far as I know. Anyway I hope he bought a lottery ticket or maybe more.
She was Union, and she was a mother of three working on a major holiday to take care of her family. One of her sons was only 12 years old. Maybe stfu before making such gross assumptions.
It's utterly gross to bring politics into this. And maybe before referring to others in a derogatory fashion, you should first brush up on your grammar and spelling.
Any "point" you may have been making was completely negated by your ignorant comment about politics. I've never been even close to the Rio Grande, but I can tell you I am "guaranteed" to vote opposite to you. Disgusting.
You realise that immigrants who may not be white like you, also have qualifications. They are doctors, lawyers, engineers etc that clean up your s—t
Not surprising, its surprising how uncommon these accidents are in the regional ground handling industry. When you get paid $12/hour, its common to have your mind on other things (such as how to meet basic needs) and its also common to have a poor work environment (I almost got into fist fights on the ramp on a few occasions).
When I was a ramper making $9.50/hour 10 years ago, we were technically union too. It was a union buster's dream union, and it had no teeth. Not surprisingly, we had a tremendous turnover compared to the union mainline outfit at the airport. United succeeded in busting that mainline outfit shortly thereafter.
My favorite cringe, poor culture story from working as a ramper was we had one guy who was supposed to take the unloaded bags and drop them at the claim, then grab the new bags to get loaded. He took the scanner, scanned them all as dropped, then brought them all back to get put on the plane. The aircraft left with both the incoming bags and the outgoing bags. He didn't get fired for it either.
beyond horrific just to read the details.
It is hard to not see how the crew (ground and aircraft) and passengers don't legitimately claim PTSD.
He or she made a valid point about groups running across the border and occupying these jobs but of course you ignore autocorrect exists
It wasn't an American Airlines employee. It was an employee for one of the regional feeders; but why let facts get in the way of the news.
Grammar and spelling aside, there is nothing ignorant about stating the truth of the American Workforce today, especially since there are no derogatory comments in the connect about those respectable people who would deserve more training and better wages, the post seems to imply
But politics should nit a taboo and it ain’t gross to mention it, since politics is the mother of big decisions that cascade into smaller and smaller decision. Thats is actually how toot cause investigations are carried on. I don’t see an implicit blame on immigrants here
1. There is no path for dreamers to obtain citizenship. Never was, isn’t now.
2. No one who “waded across the Rio Grande” is eligible for employment anywhere much less able to get TSA rampside clearance.
3. If you hate brown people, just say it straight out.
not sure, but the name of the worker who died "Courtney Edwards" doesn't sound like from south of the Rio Grande to me.
they had TWO safety briefings about these engines being on within minutes of the plane arriving... Clearly, we will never know what was on this woman's mind, but when you work around deadly equipment you need to be paying attention. Sad and horrific accident, and three children will now grow up without their mother.
A lawsuit from the family will probably come soon. As they had the safety issue and as her colleagues attempted to get her away from the situation perhaps it could be argued that the airline is not responsible.
You made “very good” money as a ramper in 1989? What were you unloading, cocaine?
As a ramp agent, I have a problem with the design of this aircraft, in light of this tragic event. When preparing for takeoff and after push back, we are instructed as wing walkers to make a 90 degree walk from the tip of the wing to the GPU & communication panel (to disconnect), AFTER ENGINE ONE HAS BEEN TURNED ON & RUNNING. The distance between engine 1 and this panel seems very short. My understanding is that the dangerous ingestion zone is 15 Feet from the engine. However, there is no clear marked area where those 15FT begin/end and/or the distance between the engine and the communication panel. The design of this model placed the position of the engines MUCH closer to the communication panel than other airplanes. Does anyone know the distance between the GPU/communication panel and engine 1?
I read that she only worker there fir a month and was a new employee. A 10 minute training was given before the plane landed. This is horrific for those children that list their mother.
Bottom line the safety protocols were not followed. I'm curious to see what the final report will show about the safety culture with this airline and the airport
She intention walked in front of the engine AFTER being told not to. That kind of pestilence for simple orders can lead to death, and that's not the airlines fault.
MD, as a former ramper also, the last part of your story brings into light exactly why the airline is NOT at fault here. Just like the guy you referenced that obviously either screwed up or just didn't care about his job to do a simple task (he clearly was incompetent), this is almost certainly the case here. I saw it evbery single hour of every day: that is, workers that fully well know the rules but are complacent, listening to music, or just too lazy to follow the rules because it is an inconvenience to them. Tragic story, butexactly HOW is the airline supposed to prevent incidents like these? Are they supposed to hold their hand every second of the day?
Rampers make FAR more than minimum wage. I am one. We make great $$$. However, there are MANY awful, lazy, complacent, and dangerous rampers that endanger all of us every day. This poor woman most likely just wasn't paying attention, for whatever reason that particular flight, and it cost her her life. So sad. but it is why we have rules that many (especially new/younger workers with VERY poor work ethic) don't seem to care about.
She was a veteran employee and almost certainly was aware of the rules. Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent a person from doing something like this if they lose their situational awareness even momentarily. It's the same as driving a car.....and why so many of us HATE distracted drivers. All it takes is a couple seconds to cause a fatality. So sad. But ultimately it is on each individual to exercise common sense. I've walked around planes for 10 years, and have witnessed coworkers come very close to doing the very same thing.
Thank you Diane. Perfectly stated. I see it every shift I work. And it drives most of us crazy but it seems to be the new way of the world because mgmt is afraid to discipline them due to the way the world is.
They provide the safety training. Some employees don't follow the procedures. Plain and simple. See it every day.
It doesn’t matter what they are qualified to do. They aren’t taking applications for employment at the border. A criminal is a criminal. What you’re qualified to do for work does not negate breaking the law. Is it ok for someone to break into your home as long as they can be a doctor? Have a think.
You are the only one here who brought up the color of skin. What the poster hates is people coming into our country illegally. What part about that do you not understand?
What makes you think this was the first thing that this poster thought of? It could’ve been the last thing or the fourth thing, or someone else might’ve brought it up in their presence. Stay in your lane. You have no idea what you’re talking about.