‘I Can’t Wrap My Mind Around How This Happened’: Alabama Mom ‘Ingested’ Into Airplane Engine In Rare Accident
A union, co-workers and friends of the mother of three fatally killed on New Year’s Eve are trying to cope with her terrifying on-the-job death.
Courtney Edwards, 34, was working as a ground handling agent for Piedmont Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, on Saturday, Dec. 31, when she was sucked into a plane’s engine.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, around 3 p.m. Edwards was walking toward a parked Embraer E175 American Airlines plane before she was “ingested into the engine.”
Many wondered how could this happen to the worker.
“This is most unfortunate, and the first case I’ve heard of where a civilian was ingested by an A/C engine,” wrote John McKnight, a contributor to an online campaign for Edwards. “It happens in the military. But it is unfortunate for anyone who is pulled into an engine even if they survive it. My condolences and prayers go out to her family.”
Popular Mechanic said, “Injury or death from jet engine ingestion is uncommon, it isn’t unprecedented.”
The trade publication cited a study by Boeing, an American company that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, which said over the span of approximately 40 years, there were 33 reports of ingestions (with one of those causing death) by Boeing 737 model 100 and 200 airplanes.
The company further stated in the 737 models 300, 400, 500, and Next Generation airplanes there were four fatal ingestion incidents during those four decades.
“When a jet engine operates, it creates a low air pressure area in the inlet. This low-pressure area causes a large quantity of air form the area forward of the inlet cowl to go into the engine,” The expert explained. “The air that is near the inlet cowl moves at a much higher velocity than air that is farther from the inlet. As a result, the amount of engine suction is small until ones nears the inlet, where the suction increases significantly.”
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