Aviation is statistically the safest mode of transport. However, ground service equipment, aircraft and engines are powerful machines, and occasionally, accidents happen on the ground at airports. Unfortunately, in a recent incident in Russia's Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, an airport ground services agent died after being hit by the rotating propeller of an Antonov An-24 aircraft belonging to UTair. Authorities have launched an investigation into the event.

Injuries "incompatible with life"

The accident occurred four days ago, on Friday, August 19, at the Belyoarsk Airport (EYK). The An-24 involved belonged to Russia's fourth largest carrier, UTair, and was preparing to operate a flight to Berezovo. While reportedly clearing the thrust pads, an aircraft technician was hit by the blades of a rotating propeller. The 48-year-old man died immediately. As quoted by Russian media outlet TASS, a spokesperson of the airline said,

"On August 19, at the airport of the Beloyarsk Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Yugra, after starting the engines on an An-24 aircraft preparing to fly to Berezovo, an accident occurred while clearing the thrust pads - an aircraft technician fell under the blades of a rotating propeller and received injuries incompatible with life. The reasons for the incident are being established."

Walked right into the rotating blades

There are blurry videos of the event itself circulating on the internet, but we would advise sensitive viewers to refrain from seeking them out. However, it seems as if the man walked straight into the moving propeller, potentially not seeing that it was rotating as he was approaching it from the side. The Central Interregional Investigation Department for Transport of the Russian Federation is indeed conducting an investigation to establish all the circumstances of the tragic accident. It stated,

"According to preliminary data, at 13:48 (11:48 Moscow time) on August 19 at the airport of the city of Beloyarsky during the procedure for the release of the An-24 of the Utair airline, an agent of the ground handling service of the aircraft was injured by the propeller of the aircraft. The victim died on the spot from his injuries."

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Other tragic events at airports

Fatal accidents at airports are unusual, but they do happen. In July this year, a 35-year-old man was pronounced dead on the scene after a construction incident at Gatwick Airport Station. The same month, a worker died from electrocution during a construction accident at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, North Carolina.

A few months earlier, in February, a 70-year-old ground handler at Heathrow was reportedly "crushed to death" by a 20-tonne loading machine during a cargo shift. In 2019, a worker at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport was pinned between a baggage loading vehicle and a United Airlines aircraft and died from the resulting injuries. A year later, a worker at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok died after being crushed by a Boeing 737 belonging to Nok Air.

Source: TASS