Back in early January, you may have read about the tragedy of Courtney Edwards. The 34-year-old mother of 3 was a grounds crew worker at Alabama’s Montgomery Regional Airport.
Edwards had been working as a ground handling agent for Piedmont Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, at the time of her death.
According to a January report from the National Transportation Safety Board, a co-worker saw Edwards nearly get knocked over by the exhaust from a jet. They tried to warn her to keep her distance until the engines were shut down.
Another grounds worker, who was working on the other side of the Embraer E175 jet, had backed away after a pilot leaned out the window and said the engines were still running.
Moments later, Edwards walked in front of one of the engines of the plane carrying an orange safety cone and was “pulled off her feet and into the operating engine,” according to the report.
The report continued that a co-pilot reported that the “airplane shook violently followed by the immediate automatic shutdown.”
The flight from Dallas was operated by Envoy Air, which is an affiliate of American Airlines. It had 59 passengers and four crew members on board at the time of the accident. None of them were injured during the incident.
As per the NTSB, an auxiliary power unit used to power the plane without using the engines wasn’t working, and the pilots had decided to leave both engines running for a two-minute engine cool-down period while they waited for the plane to be connected to ground power.
The NTSB said the ground crew had held a safety meeting 10 minutes before the flight arrived, followed by a second safety “huddle” held immediately before the Embraer jet reached the gate, “to reiterate that the engines would remain running.” At the time, they reiterated that the plane shouldn’t be approached until the engines were shut down and the pilots turned off the beacon light.
Investigators said that beacons on the plane were illuminated and rotating throughout the incident, warning that engines were still running.
Based on video surveillance at the scene, Edwards could be walking along the edge of the plane’s left wing and in front of the first engine. A co-worker yelled at Edwards and waved her off. Edwards began to move away from the plane, but then the co-worker heard a “bang,” and the engine shut down, according to the NTSB’s initial report.
Shortly after the incident, American Airlines released a statement that read: “We are devastated by the accident involving a team member of Piedmont Airlines, an American Airlines regional carrier, at Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM).
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and our local team members.”
It’s been almost 7 months since the tragedy and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has just levied a $15,625 fine against Piedmont Airlines. OSHA investigators believed the airline was responsible for a safety breach that led to Edwards’ death.
They claimed the airline didn’t furnish, “a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees that were exposed to ingestion and jet blast hazards.”
OSHA also charged Piedmont with “lack of effective training, clear and unambiguous communication on the ramp, and clear instructions from supervisors as to when it is safe to approach an aircraft,” which they said all contributed to Edwards’ ‘preventable’ death.
This was after the NTSB suggested Edwards’ death was from doing something she was told, several times, not to do.
The union Edwards was a member of, Communications Workers of America, said in a statement that “it is likely Piedmont will contest the decision.”
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