This had to hurt... for a second

[chperplt]

Mechanic sucked into Air China engine.
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) - A Chinese mechanic was killed Thursday after he was sucked into one of the engines of an Air China jet as it pulled away from the airport gate, officials said.
Air China flight 928, carrying 211 passengers and seven crew, was to take off from Osaka's Kansai International Airport for Beijing when the incident occurred, said Junichi Odawara of the Kansai airport police.

The plane's engine was badly damaged and the flight was canceled, he said.

Odawara said witnesses saw the man sprint to one of the plane's wing engines, which pulled him in with the force of its rotating turbines.

Hiroshi Kato, another airport police official, said investigators were investigating the possibility that the man, identified as 39-year-old Zhang Xinmin, committed suicide.

Air China officials weren't immediately available for comment.

Kansai airport officials said there were no other flights to Beijing Thursday, and that passengers were expected to stay in Japan overnight.

Osaka is 255 miles west of Tokyo.

 

[Ted Striker]

Crazy...

Why couldn't he just swallow a pistol like a normal person? ;-)

 

[boscenter]

That's not too funny....

Sounds fishy, but it really could have been a genuine accident...

 

[Ted Striker]

Holy Cow

Boscenter--
You have been up my a$$ all day, haven't you?!! I know it's sick humor, but they said "suicide", not me. If that truely was the case, I can think of a dozen better ways to do it than running into a jet engine!

 

[avbug]

I believe it was last year that a food handler was drawn into the intake on the starboard engine on a 727. Meals were being loaded and for whatever reason, that engine was turning. The F/O was in the cockpit when a F/A came running, telling him to shut down; someone had just gone up the intake.

The man lived, though I bet he still has nightmares.

 

[Ted Striker]

Have you guys ever seen that Navy video of the guy getting sucked into an A-6? He went into the intake like a leaf! He lived too, but I bet he soiled his drawers!

 

[Simon Says]

That Navy guy lived didnt he. It sucked him in head first.

 

[ILLINI]

That Navy tape with the guy getting sucked into an A-6 was incredible! I watched it in an accident investigation class I took in college. From what I remember, they were practicing night operations on a carrier with all (or most) off the lights out. For some reason this guy went to do something by the nose gear just as the pilot started up. As he stood up he was sucked into the intake head first and the engine flamed out. After the engine was shut down other people came to the plane to investigate what happened. The guy crawled out of the intake without anyone noticing him because it was so dark until someone actually stumbled over him. Oh, and yes the guy lived. Can you imagine what a great bar story that guy has!

 

[Vandal]

can someone explain how you could possibly live through that?

 

[ShawnC]

Well it seems that Air China is having its own set of problems right now.

 

[Flynfish]

It's my understanding that the Navy guy lived because when he went in head first, his helmet of other equipment FODed out the engine.

 

[A1FlyBoy]

short guy with big feet holding him outside the duct.

 

[avbug]

Referring back to the miriad aeronautical uses of monkeys, this is a good time to remind ourselves of the value of carrying monkey when working on a busy flight line. A monkey is much more likely to get drawn up an intake before a pilot, so long as the pilot doesn't cluth the monkey too tightly. (Good time to put socks on the hands and feet of the monkey so it doesn't clutch the pilot too tightly, either).

If you happen to glance at your shoulder and find your monkey missing, duck. There's probably a good reason.

The monkey does far less damage to the engine, and probably stands a greater chance of grabbing something before going up the tube.

Then again, monkeys aren't stupid enough to stand in front of a spinning jet engine, either.

Darwin wasn't so smart, after all.

 

[FamilyMan]

OUCH!!!

Yep,
Saw the same navy video when I was working crew chief on the F-15, they played it over and over: in real-time, then slow mo. He went in head first, his helmet came off and shredded the turbines before his body hit the blades. He went in fast, all the way into the intake, couldn’t see him he was so far in. A little time passed, people were walking around the plane prepping it for launch. Nobody noticed him go in except the camera. He then slid/fell out of the intake, hitting the ground rather hard. (He didn’t land on his feet as you can imagine.) When he came out of the intake he looked like a wet noodle, almost like he had no bones in his body. I’m sure he had quite a few broken bones. He lay in front of the intake for another few seconds before anyone noticed him on the ground, then a little crowd gathered around him. The tape then stopped.

I was an amazing site I will never forget. Maybe it’s floating around the Internet as a MPEG. Wish I still had a copy of it.

Moral of the story, don’t hang around intakes.

Family Man

 

[Timebuilder]

Hmm. An interesting entry for his service record.

 

[eriknorth]

anybody know a link to a site that has this video?