Two people working at a Delta Air Lines maintenance facility in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were killed and a third was seriously injured by an explosion in the facility’s wheel and brake shop on Tuesday, according to the airline and authorities.
The accident, which happened at just before 5:10 a.m. at Delta’s Atlanta Technical Operations Maintenance facility, killed Mirko F. Marweg, 58, of Stone Mountain, Ga., and Luis Aldarondo, 37, of in Newnan, Ga., the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a statement. Delta did not specify the nature of the accident, but confirmed the victims were Delta team members.
“I heard an explosion behind me and saw my co-workers running away from the direction of the explosion,” a witness who was interviewed by the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department said in its incident report. “I walked toward where the explosion occurred and saw a body lying face down, not moving, with blood all around.”
The Atlanta Police Department and an airport spokesman directed questions to the airline, which said the cause of the accident is under investigation. Travel was not disrupted on Tuesday morning, the airport said. Delta said that the maintenance facility remained open.
The status of the person who was injured was not immediately clear.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was aware of the accident but directed questions to Delta. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents airline workers across North America, called for Delta and the authorities “to quickly launch a thorough investigation” into how it happened.
In a social media post, Mayor Andre Dickens of Atlanta offered his “deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased Delta employees.”
The post 2 Are Killed at Delta Maintenance Facility Near Atlanta Airport appeared first on New York Times.