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A horrific incident occurred Wednesday at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport when a person was killed after being ingested into the engine of a KLM Cityhopper flight preparing to depart for Billund, Denmark.
The KLM Embraer ERJ-190STD regional jet, registration PH-EZL operating flight KL-1341, was undergoing pushback procedures with at least one engine running when the fatal accident took place, according to The Aviation Herald.
“A terribly tragic incident occurred at Schiphol when a person ended up in an aircraft engine,” KLM said in a statement, adding that it is investigating the circumstances while providing care to passengers and employees who witnessed the gruesome event.
On Thursday, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee military police concluded their investigation, revealing that the deceased was an employee of a company operating at the airport who intentionally climbed into the running engine, indicating this was a case of suicide.
The aircraft had just completed the pushback procedure and was about to taxi to the runway when the man fell into the engine and died.
All passengers and crew were safely deplaned.
While the victim’s identity was not released out of respect for him and his loved ones, Dutch media had initially suggested he could have been an employee involved in the pushback procedure based on his location on the airport apron.
The Dutch Safety Board dispatched investigators to the scene as well.
Flight KL-1341 remained grounded in Amsterdam hours after its scheduled 2:25 p.m. (1225 GMT) departure time.
Such incidents involving jet engines are extremely rare yet potentially deadly, as highlighted by recent cases in the United States where airport workers were killed after being pulled into aircraft engines.
Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs handling over 5 million passengers last month, said: “Our thoughts go out to the relatives, and we care for the passengers and colleagues who witnessed this.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with new information from the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee as of May 30th. The latest report concludes that the crew member intentionally climbed into the engine in an apparent suicide.
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