Why going close to an aircraft engine can be dangerous?
Did you know that a jet engine sucks in about 1.2 tons of air per second during takeoff? That’s right. And if you get close enough to an operating engine, the same thrust can suck you into the airplane engine.
The 9-foot-diameter fan in the engine rotates 2800 times a minute at take-off. In less than half a second, this turbine can suck in enough air to vacuum out the air in a four-bedroom house.
Given this fact and the risk it poses, pilots and ground staff have a strictly curated set of guidelines that have to be followed when taking off and landing. Each airline develops its own safety procedures based on the engines they use. In most airlines, before starting an engine, the captain asks the ground crew to visually confirm that no person or equipment is present in the vicinity of the engine.
If you are wondering if anyone has actually been sucked into an aircraft engine, the answer is an unfortunate ‘yes’. In India, two such instances were reported so far, one in Mumbai and the other in Hyderabad.
In December 2015, an Air India service engineer, Ravi Subramanian, died after he got sucked into the live engine of an A-319 aircraft at Mumbai airport. He was assisting the pilots to position the aircraft for takeoff and was near the nose wheel along with a pushcart when the engine started.
The second incident, in Hyderabad reportedly in 1995, occurred when a man was crossing the runway on his vehicle just when an aircraft was landing. As the engines were on, he was sucked into the engine and his body was fatally mutilated.
Here’s a simulation video that shows what happens when a person is sucked into an aircraft. Viewer discretion is advised.
