A person has died after falling into the spinning turbine blades of a departing passenger jet at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.
The death occurred on the apron outside the busy hub’s terminal as a KLM flight was preparing to depart for Billund in Denmark.
“A fatal incident took place at Schiphol today during which a person ended up in a running aircraft engine,” the Dutch flag carrier, KLM, said in a statement. “Sadly the person has died.” The victim has not yet been named.
Dutch border police, who are responsible for security at the Netherlands’ largest airport, said passengers had been removed from the plane and an investigation opened.
The aircraft involved is a short-haul Embraer jet used by KLM’s Cityhopper service, which operates flights to nearby destinations such as London, Dutch news reports said.
A picture posted by the Dutch public broadcaster, NOS, showed the plane surrounded by fire trucks and ambulances next to the departure terminals.
Safety and security measures are strict at Schiphol and accidents are rare at the airport, which handled about 5.5 million passengers last month alone, according to airport figures.