The fatally injured victim of an accident in the USA would have intentionally run into the engine of the Embraer E175 jet, which sucked him in and caused his death.
The tragic accident occurred on the last day of 2022 when an American Airlines thirdparty baggage handler was sucked into a GE CF34 engine on an Embraer E175. The worker died on the spot in Montgomery, Alabama.
After the fall, an investigation was launched by the US Transportation Security Bureau (NTSB), which released the first data yesterday. According to preliminary information, the E175 jet had just landed at the airport and had not shut down the engines when it reached its holding position because the APU was out of order.
The APU is an auxiliary power unit used to start the aircraft electrically, start the engines and keep the air conditioning on. Without them, alternative sources of energy are required to provide what the plane needs to sustain itself.
Before mechanics approached and connected the power cable to the aircraft, the employee approached and was alerted to the hazard by a ground mate. But moments later, it continued ahead of the engine until it was aspirated, according to the Associated Press.
Another employee, who was on the other side of the plane, even walked away from the plane after the pilot signaled through the window that the engines were running. The primary indicator, alongside the sound and motion of engine rotation, is a flashing red light called a beacon, which NTSB says was functioning normally and on at the time of the accident. Nobody is allowed to approach the aircraft until it is switched off.
The investigation will still be intense and has no defined date for the release of the final report, which will indicate probable causes of the accident and possible corrective actions to prevent it from happening again.