Update: Ramp Worker Ingested By Delta A319 Engine

For the second time in six months, an airline ramp worker has been ingested by a jet engine. The FAA has confirmed the Delta Air Lines worker was killed at the San Antonio Airport late Friday. “An airport ramp worker was involved in an accident in the gate area at San Antonio International Airport around 10:30 p.m. local time on Friday, June 23, while a jetliner was pulling up to the terminal. Delta Flight 1111, an Airbus A319, had just arrived from Los Angeles International Airport,” the FAA said in a statement. The NTSB released a statement saying the aircraft was taxiing to the gate on one engine when the incident occurred.

Update: On Monday (June 26) the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death of the ramp worker to be a suicide. Accordingly, the National Transportation Safety Board has canceled its investigation into the incident. “There were no operational safety issues with the airplane or the airport,” the NTSB wrote in a statement.

Meanwhile, American Airlines has been fined $15,565 by the Occupational Health and Safety Association (OSHA) for safety violations in the death of a Piedmont Airlines ramp worker on Dec. 31, 2022. The NTSB preliminary report said the worker had been told in two separate meetings just before the arrival of the aircraft to stay away from the engines on the Envoy E175 until they had been shut down and the aircraft's beacon was off. Piedmont and Envoy are both wholly owned American subsidiaries. One of the pilots also warned the ramp agent that the engines were still running. The report said the mother of three was carrying a safety cone when she was plucked off her feet and ingested by the engine.