US airport worker killed by jet engine identifed; $100k raised for family

Montgomery Regional Airport: Courtney Edwards died in an accident involving an aircraft. Photo / Brynn Anderson, AP

A fundraiser for the family of an Alabama airport worker who was killed by the engine of a passenger jet has raised $100,000 in her memory.

Coutney Edwards, a ground handler for Piedmont Airlines, died on 31 December after being “sucked into the engine” of an Embraer E175.

The Envoy Air aircraft had just arrived from Dallas-Fort Worth operating as an American Airlines Service when the incident happened, according to a report by USA Today.

The US National Transportation Safety Board said that all departures and arrivals were grounded for six hours following the incident.

The agency said in a statement the “aircraft was parked at the gate with the parking brake set when a ground support personnel was ingested into the engine.”

A Go Fund Me page was set up in memory of Eduards by the CWA airport workers union, who was described as “a loving mother of 3 kids and a wonderful daughter to her beloved mother, Natalie”.

The fundraiser was given over US$72,000 ($113,000), which Local union president Donielle Prophete said would go to supporting Natalie and the care of Edwards’ children.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the AA/Piedmont Airlines/employee’s family and ground crew,” read a statement from the airport

The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing.

- With additional reporting by AP