Airline Worker Sucked Into Engine With ‘Bang,’ Plane Filled With Passengers Shook Violently

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Ramp operator, Courtney Edwards, was been killed at an airport in Montgomery, Alabama after she was sucked into the engine of the plane.

Edwards, who was a mother of three, worked for a subsidiary of American Airlines called Piedmont Airlines.

The aircraft “shook violently” as it shut off with a “bang,” according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The occurred after 63 passengers had boarded the Embraer 170 plane operated by Envoy Air.

The captain decided to “leave both engines running for the required two-minute engine cool-down period.”

The NTSB report stated the aircraft had an inoperative auxiliary power unit and that its captain signaled for it to be connected to ground power after arriving from Dallas.

The report stated the captain was shutting off the plane’s right engine when he received a message that the aircraft’s front cargo door had opened.

“The first officer opened his cockpit window to inform the ramp agent that the engines were still operating.”

Emergency crews at Alabama’s Montgomery Regional Airport responded immediately.

The report said, “Immediately thereafter, he saw a warning light illuminate, and the airplane shook violently, followed by the immediate automatic shutdown of the number 1 engine.”

“Unsure of what had occurred, he extinguished the emergency lights and shut off both batteries before leaving the flight deck to investigate.”

The NTSB report said Edwards was seen “walking along the leading edge of the left wing and directly in front of the number one engine” before she was “subsequently pulled off her feet and into the operating engine.”

The NTSB said, “Throughout the course of the accident, the airplane’s upper rotating beacon light,” which warns ground crews of ongoing engine activity, “appeared to be illuminated.”

The report said just prior to the plane’s arrival, the ramp agents held two safety briefings “to reiterate that the engines would remain running until ground power was connected.”

The report continued, “It was also discussed that the airplane should not be approached, and the diamond of safety cones should not be set until the engines were off, spooled down, and the airplane’s rotating beacon light had been extinguished by the flight crew.”