NTSB Warns Woman Sucked Into Plane Engine to Remain Back

NTSB Warns Woman Sucked Into Plane Engine to Remain Back: Federal investigators discovered that other crew members had told the Alabama airport worker to keep her distance before being fatally dragged into an airplane’s engine. The ramp agent who died in the accident on December 31 at Montgomery Regional Airport was Courtney Edwards, 34.

According to a preliminary assessment made public by the National Transportation Safety Board on Monday, a coworker tried to advise Edwards to remain back until the jet engines were shut down after seeing her almost pushed over by jet exhaust before she passed away.

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When a cockpit alert signaled that the front cargo door had opened, the 63-passenger Embraer 170 aircraft being flown by Envoy Air, an American Airlines subsidiary, had already parked at the gate after arriving from Dallas. According to the report, the first officer rolled down the window to let one of the four ramp agents know that the engines were still on.

A warning light came on as the captain was about to turn off the plane’s left engine, and “the airplane rocked strongly” before the engine was turned off right away. Four ramp agents were at the gate at the time of the accident, according to surveillance video:

Edwards moved toward the back of the jet as he walked toward the forward cargo door, one at the nose, one on the right wing, and one at the forward cargo door. According to the report, the agent at the right-wing “could be seen indicating with his hand towards the back of the airplane” as Edwards moved toward the back of the aircraft.

According to the report, Edwards temporarily vanished from view before reappearing down the left wing and right in front of the engine, where she was pulled in. Throughout the incident, a light on the plane’s outside that indicated the engines were running was glowing, according to the report.

Federal investigators were informed by the agents stationed near the right wing and nose of the aircraft that they had advised Edwards to stay away from the plane because the engines were still operating. The safety information in the study is taken from a July 13, 2022, American Airlines document, which warns ramp personnel against approaching an aircraft while its engines are still running.

“Before entering the ingestion zone, the engine must be spooled down. According to the kind of aircraft, this might take anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds, according to the NTSB report’s citation of a manual extract. “Both wing-mounted and fuselage/tail-mounted engines fall under this.

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Before approaching the ingesting zone, you must wait to see the individual fan blades. According to the report, the crew had a safety briefing about 10 minutes before the jet reached the gate, and they were informed that the engines would continue to operate for a while after the plane had parked.