NTSB: Airline Worker Pulled into Engine in Fatal Accident

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An airline ground crew worker was pulled into the engine of a plane during a fatal accident at an Alabama airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board released the additional information about the Saturday accident at the Montgomery Regional Airport that claimed the life of a ground crew employee for a subsidiary of American Airlines.

The agency said in a statement that the “aircraft was parked at the gate with the parking brake set when a ground support personnel was ingested into the engine.”

The accident is under investigation and a preliminary report is expected in two or three weeks, the agency said.

The accident involved an Embraer 170 aircraft operated by regional carrier Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines. The flight was set to depart Montgomery for Dallas-Fort Worth before the accident, according to officials.

The airport said a ground crew worker for Piedmont Airlines, another American subsidiary, was killed.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the AA/Piedmont Airlines/employee’s family and ground crew,” the airport said in a statement.