2 workers killed at Delta Air Lines maintenance facility
ATLANTA — Two people were killed and another person was injured at a Delta Air Lines maintenance facility near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport early Tuesday morning, according to the company.
Multiple Atlanta Fire Rescue Department units and police responded to the scene at a Delta TechOps maintenance hangar on Maynard H. Jackson Jr. Boulevard near the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson just after 5 a.m.
Early reports were that a tire on a plane exploded, and a Delta employee and a contractor were killed, according to Channel 2 Action News, which cited multiple unnamed individuals. None of the victims were identified.
Atlanta Fire Rescue referred inquiries to Delta. Few details have been confirmed by the airline.
“The Delta family is heartbroken at the loss of two team members and the injury of another following an incident this morning at the Atlanta Technical Operations Maintenance facility (TOC 3),” Delta said in a written statement. “We have extended our full support to family members and colleagues during this incredibly difficult time.”
There was no impact to flights, according to Hartsfield-Jackson spokesman Andrew Gobeil.
Delta said it is working with authorities and conducting an investigation to determine what happened. Delta TechOps is the airline’s maintenance, repair and overhaul operation, which operates out of large hangars near the airport.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens posted a statement on social media offering his “deepest condolences to the family and loved ones” to the workers who died and hope for recovery for the injured.
Dickens said Atlanta fire, police and airport teams were on scene, “working diligently to address the situation.”
The International Association of Machinists, a union seeking to organize workers at Delta, called on the airline and authorities to “quickly launch a thorough investigation into how this happened.”
The union said it “expresses our deepest condolences to the victims’ families following the tragic incident that occurred,” according to a written statement.
