Person killed after falling into jet engine at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport

The death occurred on the apron outside the hub’s terminal as the KLM flight was getting ready to depart to Denmark.

A person has died after falling into the spinning turbine blades of a departing passenger jet at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, officials said.

The death occurred as KLM flight KL1341 was on the airport’s apron getting ready to depart to Billund in Denmark.

“An … incident took place at Schiphol today during which a person ended up in a running aircraft engine,” carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Sadly the person has died,” KLM said, without disclosing the victim’s identity. “The circumstances are currently under investigation,” the statement added.

Dutch border police, who are responsible for security at the Netherlands’ largest airport, said passengers were removed from the plane and an investigation was opened.

The plane involved is a short-haul Embraer jet, used by KLM’s Cityhopper service which operates flights to other nearby destinations like London, Dutch news reports said.

A picture posted by the NOS public broadcaster showed the plane surrounded by fire trucks and ambulances next to the departure terminals.

“Terrible news about a fatal accident today at Schiphol,” infrastructure minister Mark Harbers said on X. “My condolences go out to the relatives of the victim and the people who witnessed the accident,” he added.

Safety and security measures are strict at Schiphol and accidents are rare at the busy airport, which handled about 5.5 million passengers last month alone, according to airport figures.