A baggage handler at a US airport has been killed after being "ingested into a plane engine" in an incident that occurred on Saturday afternoon, the National Transportation Safety Board has stated.
The accident occurred at Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama at around 3:00PM on Saturday, Sky News reports.
American Airlines Flight 3408 had arrived at the Airport from Dallas and was parked at the gate with the brakes set when the groundcrew worker was "ingested" into the engine, per CBS News.
The worker was an employee of Piedmont Airlines, a regional subsidiary of American Airlines, and is yet to be named as the investigation continues.
The incident is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Shortly after the tragedy took place, Montgomery Regional Airport released a tweet that read: "Today around 3 pm an American Airlines ground crew piedmont employee was involved in a fatality, no additional information is available at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased."
The airport was closed for a brief time while the situation was assessed, but shortly reopened as stated on their social media platforms: "MGM has resumed normal operations as of 8:30 pm this evening. Our thoughts and prayers are with the AA/Piedmont Airlines/employee’s family and ground crew. The FAA investigation of Piedmonts tragic accident continues."
As cited by Sky News, an American Airlines spokesperson said: "We are devastated by the accident involving a team member of Piedmont Airlines, an American Airlines regional carrier, at Montgomery Regional Airport.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and our local team members. We are focused on ensuring that all involved have the support they need during this difficult time."
Fox News reports that the victim of the tragedy was operating as a baggage handler and that they died in "an accident involving one of the airplane's engines that was running."
Passengers who were scheduled to arrive or depart from the airport that day were instructed to check with the airline for any alterations that may have been made while the staff investigated the tragedy.
Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the tragic incident.
