Bluebaron
4th Nov 2004, 10:00
JET ENGINE SUCKS IN WORKER
Rescuers find only his boots
AN AIRCRAFT engineer has been killed by being sucked into a jet engine.
Horrified workmates could only find the maintenance worker's boots lying on
the ground under the Boeing 737 airliner.
Tragedy struck when a pilot started up the plane's two engines, not
realising the man was examining them.
Within seconds, his entire body had been blasted through the huge rotor
blades.
His screams were drowned out by the roar of the jets.
It was only when airport staff noticed blood spattered on the ground behind
one engine that the gruesome accident came to light.
The plane, owned by Kazakhstan airline Air Astana, had to be taken out of
service while the engine was cleaned. The incident led to an investigation
by airport authorities.
The plane was understood to be about to leave Moscow for London.
The Russian contractor worked for a number of airlines, including British
carriers. An airline source said: 'Everyone is in shock. The engineer was
examining an engine but the pilot had not been notified.
'Within seconds of starting up the engines, the worker was dead.
'It is highly unusual because there are strict safety procedures which are
followed by pilots and engineers to ensure these tragedies don't happen.
'The only comfort for the engineer's family and colleagues was that he would
have died very quickly and not known much about it.'
Russian officials yesterday confirmed the incident but would not add further
details.
The victim's name, age and the precise date of his death were not revealed
Rescuers find only his boots
AN AIRCRAFT engineer has been killed by being sucked into a jet engine.
Horrified workmates could only find the maintenance worker's boots lying on
the ground under the Boeing 737 airliner.
Tragedy struck when a pilot started up the plane's two engines, not
realising the man was examining them.
Within seconds, his entire body had been blasted through the huge rotor
blades.
His screams were drowned out by the roar of the jets.
It was only when airport staff noticed blood spattered on the ground behind
one engine that the gruesome accident came to light.
The plane, owned by Kazakhstan airline Air Astana, had to be taken out of
service while the engine was cleaned. The incident led to an investigation
by airport authorities.
The plane was understood to be about to leave Moscow for London.
The Russian contractor worked for a number of airlines, including British
carriers. An airline source said: 'Everyone is in shock. The engineer was
examining an engine but the pilot had not been notified.
'Within seconds of starting up the engines, the worker was dead.
'It is highly unusual because there are strict safety procedures which are
followed by pilots and engineers to ensure these tragedies don't happen.
'The only comfort for the engineer's family and colleagues was that he would
have died very quickly and not known much about it.'
Russian officials yesterday confirmed the incident but would not add further
details.
The victim's name, age and the precise date of his death were not revealed