One person has been tragically killed after they were sucked into the engine of a KLM CityHopper Embraer regional jet at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on Wednesday.
The gruesome incident occurred as KLM flight KL1341 to Billund was preparing to depart from the gate at around 2:25 pm on Wednesday. It is not known whether the fatality involved an airport or airline employee or a passenger.
In a statement, the Dutch Royal Military Police said it had opened an investigation after a person “fell into a running aircraft engine”. The statement, posted to X, continued: “All passengers and employees of the flight in question have been disembarked and are being taken care of.”
Schiphol Airport also confirmed the incident, saying: “Today there was a horrible incident where a person ended up in an airplane engine. Our thoughts go out to the relatives and we care for the passengers and colleagues who witnessed this.”
In a short statement, KLM said it was currently looking after passengers and employees who witnessed the victim being sucked into the engine. The airline said further information would be released by the police.
Last June, a ground worker employed on behalf of Delta Air Lines was ‘ingested’ into the engine of a Delta-operated Airbus A319 at San Antonio International Airport as the plane was taxiing to the gate.
It was later revealed that the employee, David Renner, 27, had died by suicide. A lawsuit was brought against the man’s employer by a woman onboard the aircraft who witnessed as she believes Unifi Aviation should have identified Renner’s mental ill health and prevented from working close to jet engines.
On New Year’s Eve 2022, another US airport ground worker was killed after being sucked into the engine of an Embraer ERJ-175 regional jet operated by Envoy Airlines on behalf of American Airlines at Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama.
An investigation concluded that the worker was ingested into the engine after getting too close after the plane had just pulled onto its stand.
