Freak accident leads to contractor's death at Atlanta airport

ATLANTA — An investigation is underway at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after a contractor was killed in a freak accident Wednesday.

Atlanta police tell Channel 2 Action News that the contractor was guiding a bag loading truck and got pinned between the truck and the airplane.

Investigators said the employee was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital where he died from his injuries.

Channel 2 Action News confirmed that the victim was an employee with G2 Secure Staff, LLC, who does contract work for United Airlines.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Teen driver dies after Ga. crash that killed siblings, critically injured mom
• 78-year-old man accused of hiding Lumpkin County woman's body arrested
• Metro Atlanta teacher accused of sending obscene material to 14-year-old student

In a statement, G2 President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Norman said:

"There are no words to express the depth of sadness we feel as we mourn the passing of a valued team member at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Our hearts go out to his family and our primary focus at this time is to support them and his Atlanta-based colleagues." 

United Airlines also released a statement, saying:

"The entire United family extends our thoughts to this G2 Secure Staff employee and (his) family. We are reviewing the details of the incident to better understand what happened."

"The safety and security of everyone who works at, and travels through, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is our first priority.  While incidents like what took place this week are rare, we are committed to working with all of our airline partners and their contractors to make sure that corrective actions are taken to prevent something like this from happening again. Our sincere condolences go out to the family of the G2 employee," the airport said in a statement.

Channel 2 Action News has confirmed that OSHA has opened an investigation into the death. The GBI confirmed Friday that it had performed an autopsy on the victim but have not released the cause of death.

Authorities have not yet released the name of the victim.

Cox Media Group