(GoRealNewsNow.com) – The death of an airport worker, who was “ingested” into a plane’s engine in San Antonio, Texas, last week, has been declared a suicide, according to reports.
According to the Bexar County Medical Examiner, who identified the victim as a 27-year-old male, the ground crew member died as a result of “blunt and sharp force injuries,” The Hill reports, quoting news outlet Nexstar.
The medical examiner’s office determined that the manner of the man’s death was suicide. This conclusion has led federal officials to confirm that there would be no probe into the incident.
“There were no operational safety issues with either the airplane or the airport,” stated a spokesperson of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) upon announcing that the ground crew member’s death would not be investigated.
The fatal incident at San Antonio International Airport occurred last Friday, late in the evening.
A flight of Delta Airlines from Los Angeles that had just landed was taxiing towards its gate. It had one of its engines on, the spokesperson explained.
“A worker was ingested into that engine,” informed the NTSB statement.
The deceased ground crew worker was an employee of Unifi Aviation, whose website describes it as North America’s largest airport services provider.
Unifi issued a statement to Nexstar Sunday declaring the incident with the 27-year-old man’s death was not caused by safety problems, according to the findings of an initial investigation.
“This incident was unrelated to Unifi’s operational processes, safety procedures, and policies,” the company said.
The report notes another incident in which an airport worker died after being pulled into an airplane engine occurred at the end of last year.
A ramp agent at Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama was “ingested” into the engine of an airplane parked at a gate.
A preliminary report by the NTSB published in January blamed the incident on the victim, noting other ground crew members had told the woman not to come close to the working engine.
Because of “a serious breach of safety” causing the incident, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration issued a fine of over $15,000 to Piedmont Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines.
A medical examiner has determined that the death of the worker "ingested" into a plane engine was a suicide. https://t.co/LhnybksZgN
— The Hill (@thehill) June 26, 2023
