Airline employee dies after being sucked into a jet engine so violently it ‘shook the entire plane’

A REPORT found an airline worker who was sucked into a jet engine so violently it “shook the entire plane” and received multiple warnings about the fatal accident.

Courtney Edwards, 34, was tragically killed as a result of the incident that occurred on New Year’s Eve at Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama.

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The mother-of-three was working as a ground agent for Piedmont Airlines when she was swallowed by an engine on an American Eagle plane.

However, a report prepared by the National Safety Board found the woman had failed to follow safety procedures that could have prevented the horrific incident.

Cruel details from the report also said the plane “shook violently” as Edwards was sucked inside.

It determined that the Embraer E175 jet had just landed from Dallas when the pilots left the engines on for a two-minute cool-down period until the plane could be connected to ground power.

The pilots notified airport staff, who were instructed not to approach in two separate safety briefings.

The aircraft also appeared to have rotating beacons to signal that the engine was still on.

The report read: “Immediately afterwards he [the co-pilot] saw a warning light come on and the plane shook violently, followed by the immediate automatic shutdown of engine number one.

“Unsure what had happened, he turned off the emergency lights and shut down both batteries before leaving the flight deck to investigate.”

The report also noted that the American Eagle Ground Operations Manual told staff, “Never approach an aircraft to position ground equipment alongside an aircraft or open cargo container doors until the engines are shut off and the rotating beacons are off, unless you.” carry out an approved single trip “rotate engine”.

A video showed Edwards walking in front of the left engine before “she was subsequently dragged off her feet and into the running engine”.

Divonta Palmer, an Edwards staffer, told WFSA that the tragic incident should be a safety wake-up call for ground crews.

She said: “I can’t imagine how that happened.

“She told me that she was always committed and motivated to do the best job and bring the best forward.”

The four crew members and 59 passengers who were on board the aircraft at the time were not injured.

A GoFundMe has been set up to raise funds for Edward’s family and has already raised more than £81,000.

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