Montgomery Airport Worker Who Died on Dec. 31 Was Warned About Potential Accident, Report Finds

An aircraft engine is being tested at Honeywell Aerospace in Phoenix, Ariz., on Sept. 6, 2016. Alwyn Scott/Reuters

An airport ramp worker who was killed at an airport in Montgomery, Alabama, on New Year’s Eve by getting sucked into a plane’s engine was warned not to go near the aircraft, according to federal investigators.

The accident took place on Dec. 31, 2022, when the employee, who worked at the Montgomery Regional Airport, got too close to the engine of an American Eagle Embraer 170 jet. The plane, which had come from Dallas, was operated by an American Airlines affiliate, Envoy Air, and carried 63 passengers and crew. After the pilots had parked the plane, the engines were left running for a two-minute cool-down period.

According to a report by the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB), the ground crew reported that a safety meeting was held roughly 10 minutes before the aircraft reached the gate. In a second safety huddle, it was reiterated that the plane’s engines would remain running.

“It was also discussed that the airplane should not be approached, and the diamond of safety cones should not be set until the engines were off, spooled down, and the airplane’s rotating beacon light had been extinguished by the flight crew,” the report (pdf) said.

The employee who died in the accident had been warned about the situation by a coworker. However, the employee walked in front of one of the engines of the plane moments later and got pulled in.

The coworker reported hearing a “bang,” following which the engine shut down. According to the pilot, the aircraft shook “violently.”

The Accident

Surveillance video on the ramp revealed that after the plane was marshaled to the gate, the ramp agent marshaling the aircraft walked toward the forward cargo door near the aircraft’s front.

A second ramp agent walked to the area behind the plane, carrying an orange safety cone. She then disappeared from view. A third ramp agent stood near the aircraft’s right wing tip while a fourth agent knelt near the nose wheel.

When the second ramp agent reappeared, she was seen walking toward the plane’s left wing tip. She went toward the leading edge of the left wing, which was directly in front of the left engine. At the time, the engine was just spooling down, meaning that its rotation speed was decreasing. The second agent was then sucked into the engine.

According to Fox Business, the ramp agent who died in the accident has been identified as 34-year-old Courtney Edwards, a mother of three children. The 63 passengers and crew onboard were not harmed in the accident.

Safety Guidelines

The NTSB report cites critical safety guidelines set by the American Eagle ground operations manual in July 2022, detailing precautions taken to keep employees safe and aircraft intact.

“NEVER approach an aircraft to position ground equipment next to an aircraft or open cargo bin doors until the engines are shut down and the rotating beacon(s) turned off, except when conducting an approved single engine turn,” the guideline states.

The manual warns that jet engines spin with a powerful speed and that they are “extremely dangerous until spooled down.” The ingestion zone—the area in front of the engine—for all types of aircraft is 15 feet. It warns workers to “never enter the ingestion zone until the engine has spooled down.”

The spooling down process can take anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds depending on the type of aircraft. The guideline advises workers to only enter the ingestion zone after they “clearly see the individual fan blades.”