Passengers and crew members have been left shaken after a person was reportedly sucked into a KLM Cityhopper engine on Wednesday afternoon at Schiphol Airport.
The incident is reported to have happened as a plane bound for the Danish city of Bilund was backing up for take off.
For now, who the victim was and what exactly happened is still being investigated.
Multiple witnesses
Multiple passengers on the plane as well as crew members on the ground are reported to have witnessed the horrific incident.
Once all the passengers were removed from the plane, they were interviewed by the military police, a spokesperson tells AD.
KLM CityHopper Embraer E-190 (PH-EZL, built 2010) experienced a fatal incident during pushback at Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport (EHAM), Netherlands when a person was somehow dragged into the running engine. Flight #KL1341 was about to depart to Billund when the accident occurred.… pic.twitter.com/GrFxQoljqj
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) May 29, 2024
They could then receive assistance from special airport staff and the airport chaplaincy.
An alternative flight for the intended passengers took off at 8:30 PM yesterday evening. Once passengers landed, they could receive further help from KLM staff.
A staff member or a passenger?
However, at the moment, there are conflicting stories coming out about who exactly the person was.
On social media, it’s circulating that the victim was a “pushbacker” in training who saw something under the plane and was accidentally sucked into the engine when he went to retrieve it.
READ MORE | Here’s a breakdown of Nicki Minaj’s arrest at Schiphol airport
However, AD’s source claims that “it was neither an intern or employee.”
Another theory is that it was someone who intentionally jumped into the plane’s engine. This was reported by aviation journalist, Menno Swart, on X.
Swart claims he has intel that proves this, saying, “The person was suddenly there, according to my information.”
At the time of writing, the Labour Inspectorate and military police have not completed their investigations into who the person may be.
“Our thoughts go out to the relatives and we care for the passengers and colleagues who saw this,” Schiphol writes on X.
Want the latest Dutch news to come zooming through the internet to your inbox? Dat kan! Subscribe to DutchReview’s weekly roundup 📮
You write Sarah O ‘Leary was a “fresh faced” international.?! What did you do with her at “DutchReview”?. Is she still ok?
Hey Hans,
I’m still good! Just a seasoned expat now. 😉