Texas airport worker sucked into jet engine took his own life, authorities say
The Texas airport worker who was killed after being sucked into a jet engine last week took his own life, authorities have determined.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said they did not plan to conduct an investigation into the death of 27-year-old David Renner, all but closing a case that made national news headlines over the weekend.
“There were no operational safety issues with either the plane or the airport,” a spokesperson for the federal agency said.
Renner, who was identified on Monday by the local medical examiner’s office, was working for a company which provides ground handling operations for Delta Air Lines and other airlines at San Antonio’s international airport. As a Delta Air Lines jet that had just arrived from Los Angeles was taxiing to an arrival gate at the airport at about 10.25pm on Friday, Renner was ingested into the one engine that was still running on the plane at that time.
A source briefed on the worker’s death told the Guardian on Sunday that investigators were examining further after it appeared Renner had “intentionally stepped in front of the live engine” on the jet in question.
An autopsy found Renner died from blunt and sharp force injuries, and it established that those wounds were the result of a suicide, according to the local medical examiner, who forwarded those findings to the NTSB.
Renner’s employer, Unifi Aviation, has described itself as “deeply saddened by the loss” of the worker.
“Our hearts go out to the family of the deceased, and we remain focused on supporting our employees on the ground and ensuring they are being taken care of during this time,” Unifi’s statement added.
Despite some apparent similarities, authorities’ conclusions about Renner’s death make it starkly different from that of the Montgomery, Alabama, airport worker Courtney Edwards last New Year’s Eve, which authorities found was unintentional and a breach of safety rules by the jet operator.
In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 and online chat is also available. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org