Tragically, a wing walker was hit by the engine of an arriving American Airlines aircraft on November 12th at Dallas – Fort Worth. This was originally reported by aviation watchdog JonNYC and hasn’t been picked up anywhere else.
JonNYC has now shared video of the incident. It will be difficult for many to watch, so I will not embed it here. But you can see it if you click through.
At DFW on Wednesday, I'm being told a wing walker was run into/over by the engine of an arriving AA plane, at least that's the details I've heard.
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) November 14, 2025
Engine ingestion and aircraft collision fatalities for wing walkers happen more often than one might imagine. It’s hardly a daily or monthly occurrence, but for an industry so focused on safety it’s a suprisingly non-zero event. For instance,
- American Eagle (Envoy Air) Embraer 175 arrived as flight AA3408 from Dallas – Fort Worth to Montgomery, Alabama with an inoperative auxiliary power unit, so the left engine was kept running at the gate while waiting for ground power on December 31, 2022.
A Piedmont ramp agent approached the aircraft to place cones and was pulled into the running engine and killed. The NTSB final report concluded that she repeatedly approached too close to the engine despite warnings. They also highlighted cognitive impairment from a cannabis product as a contributing factor.
- Delta 1111 from Los Angeles to San Antonio taxied to the gate on one engine on Jun 23, 2023. A ground worker was ingested into the operating engine and killed. This incident was classified as a suicide.
- An American Airlines wing walker was killed in Charlotte on January 27, 2025 after walking back toward the gate following pushback when he was run over from behind by the tug that had just pushed the aircraft.
- Some classic cases that have been studied are American Airlines in San Juan (1989) where a ramp guide stumbled while walking behind an aircraft’s nose gear during pushback; US Airways at LaGuardia (1992) where a worker was killed by a tug during pushback; and Delta at New York JFK (1997) where a wing walker was run over by the aircraft’s nose gear after walking in front of it to retrieve a headset cord while the aircraft was still moving.
Typically, ground rules manage this by making certain no one enters the hazard zone until the plane’s parking brake is set, engines are switched off and rotating beacon lights are off (a proxy for “engines have fully stopped”).
Sometimes planes land with their auxiliary power units inoperative, and it’s common to keep one engine running for power and air until ground power is connected. And sometimes ramp agents internalize “arrived at gate means engines off” even when APUs are inoperative. Sometimes procedures are breached. Standard hand signals can be misinterpreted. The cockpit has poor visibility of the exact position of people near the engines, especially at night or in bad weather.
The fact that these incidents don’t happen a lot makes it easy to feel like nothing bad like this happens, and become too lax. A wing walker may be focused on the aircraft wingtips and tail clearances, and not the tug, or walks into the path of the aircraft.
I’m not going to offer speculation or commentary specifically on the November 12th tragedy, just to note that this is a more dangerous job than we – and those who do it, even – often think about.
very sad to see that. Peace to that ramp agent.
I didn’t have to wait for the video to load to see the problem; not sure why someone else on the crew didn’t see the ramp agent in the wrong location and stop the aircraft.
I don’t know, but has anyone asked the Navy how they handle personnel in the extremely dangerous environment of an aircraft carrier deck while planes are launching and retrieving? Maybe some of their methods could be transferred to training ramp personnel.
I spent twenty+ years working ramp and training new hires. The ramp is a dangerous place for the unwary, reckless, or careless. Aircraft, vehicles, and ground equipment can be dangerous. You need to keep your head on a swivel and have good situational awareness. Know and respect the dangers. Take no shortcuts or risks. I’m proud that no one I trained was ever injured.
At the airline industry worked for, our manuals took information and wisdom from all over, including the military. They were revised every year or so.
Been doing this job for 40 years. I’m sorry, but what was that wing walker looking at? Way out of position.
1) that plane was being towed by an expediter so the engines were not on.
2) you can tell that video was sped up quite a bit
3) that’s his own damn fault for not paying attention
As Bob above noted: the aircraft was being towed (“tugged”) in the video, so it is unlikely that the aircraft engines were operating. The video quality is not great, so my best guess would be that the person on the ramp was struck and pushed over by the engine. Perhaps Gary can call the DFW airport public safety office to request details and update us (I presume they would be likely to respond to a journalist): 972-973-5480
Like Greggb57 above says: an active ramp is not the place for “the unwary, reckless, or careless”. I don’t have his twenty+ years experience working ramps, but I do have 25+ years working and training marshals (the folks that escort & direct running aircraft) at “AirVenture” in Oshkosh, WI. I bet he and I could trade some amazing stories.
Safety rules are written in blood.
Also, we can do better than ‘tots n’ pears’ when bad things happen; should have robust programs for recovery, compensation, etc. I’m sure the victim’s family needs more than ‘peace’ alone.
Perhaps, more broadly, these dangerous jobs should be paid better; supported more; ya know, because accidents can and do happen. Or, just well-wishes, yeah, probably that, eh?
Captain Alfred Lamplugh, CBE once said, “Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.” There are many industries, like aviation, that are dangerous. The gamut ranges from Aircraft to Zoos. As stated by others, “accidents can and do happen”. Tragedies like this aren”t solved by paying a higher wage. The aircraft doesn’t know the salary, education, race, gender or anything else about the victim. However, strict adherence to established safety protocols or changing those protocols that are outdated could reduce injuries and death. May we all learn something from this tragedy and do our best to keep this from happening again.
some one was run over by push tractor at ord few weeks back
survived but lost a leg