Two people killed after Delta Airlines plane tyre explodes at world’s busiest airport

A Delta Air Lines plane prepares for takeoff at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Photo / 123RF

Two people have been killed after a plane tyre exploded while it was being changed at the world’s busiest airport.

A Delta employee and contractor were killed, and a third seriously injured, while changing a Delta Airlines plane tyre at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia.

The freak incident occurred at the maintenance facility where they work on Delta planes.

Emergency services rushed to the scene at 5am on Tuesday local time where two people were confirmed dead.

“The Delta family is heartbroken at the loss of two team members and the injury of another following an incident this morning at the Atlanta Technical Operations Maintenance facility,” Delta said in a statement to the New York Post.

“We have extended our full support to family members and colleagues during this incredibly difficult time.”

Two people died after a plane tyre exploded while it was being changed at the world’s busiest airport. Photo / 123RF

“I heard an explosion behind me and saw my co-workers running away from the direction of the explosion,” a witness told the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, according to their witness statements.

“I walked toward where the explosion occurred and saw a body lying face down, not moving, with blood all around.”

The aircraft appears to be a Boeing 757 and is one of the oldest in the Delta fleet.

Before the explosion, the plane travelled from Las Vegas to Atlanta on Sunday.

Delta has vowed to work with local investigators to determine what went wrong. The cause of the explosion is unknown.

It is the latest fatal incident at a US airport this month.

Woman dies after getting trapped in baggage conveyor belt

Earlier this month a woman died at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after becoming entangled in the conveyor belt system used for transporting luggage.

The Chicago Fire Department had been called after reports a person was “pinned in machinery”.

According to ABC news, the woman, in her 40s, was a member of the public.

When emergency services arrived, they found a dead woman “entangled in the conveyor belt system used to move baggage”, officials said.