A mechanic has been sucked into a Boeing passenger jet’s engine and killed at Chabahar Konarak airport in southern Iran after he went to retrieve a tool near the aircraft.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Local mechanic Abolfazl Amiri was doing routine maintenance work on Iranian domestic airline Varesh Airline’s Boeing 737-500 when he was sucked into the engine.
According to Bild, the engine on the right-hand side had been started for a test run with the cover flaps open. A safety area had been set up around the engine as is usually recquired.
But when Amiri realised he had forgotten a tool on the engine, he went back and was sucked in and killed before the engine caught fire.
Amiri’s remains were recovered after the airport fire brigade arrived at the scene.
INVESTIGATION COMMENCES
Iran’s aviation authority has ordered an investigation into the accident.
Passengers and crew members on board the Embraer 190 aircraft – which KLM uses for their Cityhopper service to nearby destinations – told local outlet that a ‘hellish noise’ came from the engine, which quickly began trailing smoke.
The Dutch Royal Military Police investigating the incident later said that the man ‘intentionally climbed into the engine, indicating this is a case of suicide’.
