1 fatality at Schiphol Airport due to engine related incident

[Jhieminga]

According to local news, one person has lost their life due to an accident involving a KLM Cityhopper airliner (an Embraer) at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. This person ended up in the inlet of a running engine. No further details yet.
Dutch article here: https://www.at5.nl/artikelen/226895/dode-op-schiphol-na-incident-met-draaiende-vliegtuigmotor

[B2N2]

https://nltimes.nl/2024/05/29/person-killed-falling-klm-aircraft-engine-schiphol-airport

Possibly intentional.

[Mike Flynn]

A person has been killed after ending up in the running jet engine of a KLM passenger plane at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

The death happened as the KL1341 flight was getting ready to fly to Billund, Denmark, on Wednesday afternoon.

The airline said it was taking care of passengers and employees who witnessed the incident and it was investigating.

Netherland's military police also said it had started an investigation.

Royal Netherlands Marechaussee force added in a post on X that all passengers and employees had been removed from the flight.

The deceased has not yet been identified and it is too early to say whether it was an accident or a form of suicide, a spokesperson told Reuters new agency.

Various Dutch media outlets have suggested the victim could be an employee involved in pushing back an airplane before it takes off.

Pictures obtained by Dutch national broadcaster NOS show emergency services surrounding the passenger jet on the airport's apron - where aircraft are parked.

According to reports, the aircraft involved was a short-haul Embraer jet used by KLM's Cityhopper service operating flights between nearby destinations within Europe.

[slfool]

BBC news coverage (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0dd9pxnd0lo)

[procede]

They still have not identified the person, but I guess identifying the remains will be difficult...

It seems that it was not a groundworker working on that flight.

[Jhieminga]

The KLM Cityhopper flights mostly leave from and arrive at the parking spots on the A or B-platform at Schiphol (A1A to A3 on the screenshot below). Buses are used to transport passengers between the parking spots and the piers. There is ongoing construction work for the new A-pier right next to these platforms. It can also be a busy platform with a lot of Embraers parked there. Bottom line: there are workers from construction companies nearby (but there should be fencing between the construction site and the platform), various workers from ground handling companies and airlines/maintenance companies as well as perhaps passengers from other flights could be on that platform. If someone wanted to, they could do a runner and get close to the aircraft. I'm not saying that is what happened of course. We don't know yet.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1426x1348/screenshot_2024_05_30_at_10_40_47_c48c7eeeb2db21448624da7a10 c4beee4720dc2f.png

Edited to add this photo, which shows a general overview of part of this platform (not the location of, nor the aircraft involved with this incident. Photo from 2023).
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1000x568/img_9526_crop_85e690cfba317b6c645f6ac166f86309fd2754fc.jpg

[procede]

From what I read the aircraft was parked at a B gate. From the pictures it seems it had just been pushed back and had started it's engines before starting to taxi.

[Kiltrash]

If it was a deliberate act whoever the fatality was it was worse for the family, crew and passengers ... Not a nice thing to see. I witnessed a jumper off a train station walkway bridge in front of a hi speed train. .. not a lot left ..

[Pilot DAR]

I regularly fly as a passenger to and from Schiphol "B" apron. Yes, you embark and disembark from the ground, and are bussed back and forth to the terminal. The passenger access on the ground is very closely controlled, accidental passenger to running engine interaction is unlikely in the extreme - busses only move around stopped airplanes, and the bus doors are not opened until the flight attendant gives the word. The construction work underway on Terminal A is well fenced off from apron B - no access. If someone were on apron B who was not supposed to be there, it'd be pretty obvious. Otherwise, aside from the absence of a building, and gates, apron B operates about the same as any other apron - not without risks, but no abnormal risks either. Obviously, someone was not where they were supposed to be, I'll be very surprised to hear it was anyone other than an apron worker who was otherwise supposed to be working there....

[Jhieminga]

Thanks Pilot DAR , I don't use the B-platform often enough to know the ins and outs. I agree, it should not be any riskier than operations on other airport aprons. Latest from the Dutch news is that the person involved has not been identified yet. Investigation is ongoing.

[TURIN]

Incredibly sad. One of my profession's working nightmares! I go cold every time this happens, I think that's the 3rd one this year. 😢

[BonnieLass]

I too have been a fairly regular SLF on this part of Schiphol over the years, it is beyond my comprehension as to why, what and how this happened, whether it was accidental, deliberate, a lapse of concentration, this is an utter tragedy.

I truly feel for the pax and crew and the ground handlers and all the ground staff and others who witnessed this, this is something they will never forget, it is profoundly shocking and I hope they all get appropriately supported as they try to deal with what they saw and heard.

[tdracer]

Ironically, the rate of human ingestion events was higher before the introduction of the big, high bypass turbofans - the old low bypass turbofans/pure jets had a significantly higher ingestion rate. Although people often survived the low bypass/pure jet events (inlet guide vans kept them out of the spinning bits - the engine would generally surge due to the sudden blockage and kick the person back out).
No clear answer to why this was, but the speculation was that people could readily see the danger from big turbofans and were more careful. For a long time (into the 1980s), there were zero high bypass ingestions.
If it was intentional, all the warnings in the world are not going to help...

[procede]

Dutch news just announced it was suicide by an employee. They did not mention which company he worked for.

[A0283]

Officially reported as a suicide. The ground worker climbed into the engine. In the Netherlands in such cases the name of the person involved is not published.

[VH_WTF]

Ironically, the rate of human ingestion events was higher before the introduction of the big, high bypass turbofans - the old low bypass turbofans/pure jets had a significantly higher ingestion rate. Although people often survived the low bypass/pure jet events (inlet guide vans kept them out of the spinning bits - the engine would generally surge due to the sudden blockage and kick the person back out).
No clear answer to why this was, but the speculation was that people could readily see the danger from big turbofans and were more careful. For a long time (into the 1980s), there were zero high bypass ingestions.
If it was intentional, all the warnings in the world are not going to help...

Smaller intake area making for a smaller but more intense danger area at a given(idle) thrust? v more air moving around a body/object in the high bypass case