A man was sucked into an aircraft engine on the taxiway at Milan Bergamo Airport in Italy on Tuesday morning, local media reported. The person is believed to be a ground staff, who ran onto the tarmac and in the path of an Airbus A319 Volotea aircraft that was bound to Asturias, Spain, while it was taxing for take off.
Volotea confirmed that a total of 154 passengers were on the plane, along with six employees, two pilots and four cabin crew. In a post on X, Volotea also wrote that they are doing everything to support the affected passengers and crew, and providing them with psychological support.
Operations at the Orio al Serio Airport, also known as Milano Bergamo, one of the busiest airports, shut down at 10:20am after the fatal accident. The airport handled more than 17 million passengers in 2024.
Airport operator SACBO confirmed about the "problem that occurred on the taxiway" and also said "the causes of the problem are currently being investigated by the authorities."
Per reports, the man was pulled into the aircraft engine just as the plane was preparing to depart, which resulted in his death.
A total of nine flights had been diverted and six rerouted. Eight departures had also been cancelled.
