By Natalia Rueda 
Early last Friday night, tragedy struck San Antonio International Airport when a worker was fatally sucked into a plane’s engine. The plane had just arrived from Los Angeles, and the airport worker was believed to have been swallowed by the running engine at 10:25pm.
The worker’s identity has not yet been released, but it is known he was an employee of an aviation services company, Unifi Aviation. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently conducting an investigation into the incident, with Unifi confirming that the incident was “not related to Unifi’s operational processes, procedures and security policies”.
Delta Airlines, which operated the plane and employed the worker through Unifi, released a statement expressing their condolence for those affected. “We are heartbroken and saddened by the loss of life of an aviation family member in San Antonio,” they said. “Our hearts and all our support go out to his family, friends and loved ones during this difficult time.”
Due to the professionalism and courage of emergency responders, the plane was quickly evacuated and an investigation was opened to determine the cause of the tragedy. The accident has been a sobering reminder that any job within the aviation industry requires the strictest safety procedures, and that missteps can have tragic consequences.