Man dies after running on to runway and getting ‘sucked into jet engine’ as plane prepared for take-off
An Italian international airport has been closed after a man was reportedly sucked into a jet engine as a plane prepared to take off.
The victim, 35, who was not a passenger or airport staff member at Milan Bergamo Airport, entered the terminal in his car before abandoning the vehicle and running into the building, according to Bergamo News.
He is then believed to have forced one of the doors open in the baggage claim area before running onto the tarmac and into the path of an aircraft that was taxiing.
Flightradar24 data shows Airbus A319 flight V73511 from Milan to Austurias, Spain, was on the move for only one minute and 55 seconds before the accident occurred.
The plane, which has engines that can spin at nearly 15,000 rotations per minute, reportedly completing the ‘pushback’ move to exit the parking area.
Flights scheduled to arrive at the airport, which is one of Italy’s biggest – have now been diverted this morning following the ‘fatal accident’.
At 11:50am one flight was diverted to Bologna, two were redirected to Verona, and six were sent to Milan Malpensa.
Eight departing flights were cancelled after oeprations at the airport were suspended at 10:20am.. Air traffic has now resumed.
Footage from the runway appears to show people surrounding the aircraft around the time of the accident
The man is believed to have forced one of the doors open in the baggage claim area before running onto the tarmac and into the path of an aircraft that was taxiing
Flightradar24 data showsflight V73511 from Milan to Austurias was on the move for only one minute and 55 seconds before the accident occurred
Sacbo, the operator of the Bergamo airport, said: ‘An incident that occurred on the taxiway, the causes of which are being investigated by law enforcement.’
In an update posted to X, the Lombardy Airports Association wrote: ‘Traffic to and from #orio #Bgy is suspended due to a serious issue on the apron.
‘Possible delays, diversions, and cancellations throughout the morning. Updates will follow’.
According to FlightRadar information, so far, 19 cancellations have been recorded from Milan Bergamo Airport.
It comes after a mechanic was last yearsucked into a Boeing passenger jet’s engine and killed at Chabahar Konarak airport in southern Iran after he went to retrieve a tool near the aircraft.
Abolfazl Amiri was doing routine maintenance work on Iranian domestic airline Varesh Airline’s Boeing 737-500 when he was sucked into the engine.
According to local reports from the time, the engine on the right-hand side had been started for a test run with the cover flaps open. A safety area had been set up around the engine as is usually recquired.
But when Amiri realised he had forgotten a tool on the engine, he went back and was sucked in and killed before the engine caught fire.
According to Corriere della Sera , the victim, who was not a passenger or airport staff member at Milan Bergamo Airport, died after being ‘sucked into the plane engine’
Amiri’s remains were recovered after the airport fire brigade arrived at the scene.
In 2023, an airport worker who was contracted to Delta was killed after being sucked into an engine on the tarmac of San Antonio International Airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed the airline ground crew member died after they went into the engine of a Delta Airlines aircraft. The agency described the worker as being ‘ingested’ into the engine.
