An airport ground engineer has tragically died after being sucked inside the engine of a Varesh Airlines B737-500 aircraft.
The incident occurred on July 3, 2024 at Chabahar Konarak Airport (ZBR) in Iran.
According to aviation safety information site JACDEC, maintenance was being carried out on the aircraft’s engine #2 (CFM56). The aircraft, with registration EP-VAF, had just operated as flight VRH-5858 from Mehrabad International Airport (THR).
According to reports, the engine was running with the engine cowlings open when a maintenance engineer entered the safety zone to retrieve tools. In doing so, he was tragically sucked into the engine and was killed instantly.
“In the morning of July 3rd, one of the specialists of Varesh Airlines, during the pilot’s power-up for reasons requiring investigation and analysis by air accident specialists at the accident site, suddenly found himself in the air suction path of the engine intake and was pulled into the CFM56-3 turboprop engine installed on a Boeing 737, dying instantly,” according to a ‘labor source, who was quoted by aviation media outlet Aviation.be.
As of July 8, 2024, the aircraft remains at ZBR and is being investigated.