A ground worker died Friday night when he was sucked into an engine a plane that had just landed at San Antonio International Airportand the local medical examiner ruled it a suicide.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it will not open an investigation. The accident investigator said that, based on information provided by the medical examiner, “there were no operational safety issues with either the aircraft or the airport.”
The NTSB is the lead US accident investigator. The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates airlines and aviation safety, said it would investigate.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office said 27-year-old David Renner died of blunt-force and stab wounds, and the manner of death was ruled a suicide. The official declined to provide further information.
A Delta Air Lines plane that had flown in from Los Angeles was approaching the terminal when the incident occurred, according to the FAA.
Delta said the ground worker was an employee of Unifi Aviation, which Delta contracts for ground services at the San Antonio airport.
A Unifi spokesperson said: “From our initial investigation, this incident was unrelated to Unifi’s operational processes, security procedures and policies.” The spokesperson said the company was “deeply saddened by the loss of our employee at San Antonio International Airport during a tragic incident,” and had no further comment.
In a statement, Delta said it was “grieving the loss of life of a member of the aviation family in San Antonio.”
Both Delta and Unifi are headquartered in Atlanta. Unifi describes itself as the largest provider of aviation and ground handling services in North America. It lists Delta, United, Alaska, Spirit and Frontier as its customers.
The company says it has 20,000 aviation workers handling baggage, cargo, catering, fueling and other jobs at 200 locations.
On December 31, a Montgomery, Alabama airport worker died after being pushed into an engine. This month, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited American Airlines subsidiary Piedmont Airlines for allowing ground workers to get dangerously close to running aircraft engines, and proposed $15,625 in fines. . Piedmont is challenging the civil penalty.
If you or someone you know needs help, please contact the national suicide prevention hotline on 988, or contact the crisis text line by texting the word “Start” to 741741, anytime.
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