Two dead after shocking airport incident

Two people have died and a third has been injured after an incident involving maintenance staff at the world’s busiest airport.

Two people have been killed and a third seriously injured following an incident at the world’s busiest airport.

The deaths occurred at a maintenance facility for US airline Delta at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in the state of Georgia.

According to local police, a plane tyre exploded while it was being changed causing the fatalities and injuries.

The incident took place in the wheel and brake shop of Delta’s maintenance base. A witness said there was “blood all around”.

The Clayton County medical examiners office stated Mirko Marweg, 58, and Luis Aldarondo, 37, were the two victims.

Two staff died after a tyre burst on a Delta airlines jet in Atlanta. (Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP)

Emergency services were called to the airport at 5am, local time, on Tuesday.

The Atlanta Fire Resuce Department took witness statements, one of which, according to The New York Times, read: “I heard an explosion behind me and saw my co-workers running away from the direction of the explosion”.

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

The aircraft appeared to be a Boeing 757, one of the oldest airframes in the Delta fleet. It first flew in 1982 and the last plane was built in 2004. It regularly flies domestic US routes and transatlantic services.

Very few airlines continue to use the 757 and it does not fly in Australia.

The plane is reportedly a Bowing 757, one of the oldest passenger planes in Delta’s fleet with the last example built almost two decades ago.

“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 stated in a statement to the New York Post.

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

Delta, which is based in Atlanta, said it would be conducting a “full investigation”.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, a trade union that represents airline maintenance staff, said the incident needed to be investigated.

“We stand in unity with Delta workers during this difficult time and we call on Delta and the relevant authorities to quickly launch a thorough investigation into how this happened.”

The plane travelled from Las Vegas to Atlanta on Sunday night. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.