FORT WORTH- A wing walker lost his life on November 12, 2025, when struck by the engine of an arriving American Airlines (AA) Boeing 787 at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).
Aviation watchdog JonNYC first broke the news on X (formerly Twitter) and later shared graphic video of the incident that is difficult for many viewers to watch.
American Airlines 787 Hit Wing Walker
According to View from the Wing, these tragedies occur more often than the traveling public imagines. For an industry obsessed with safety, fatal collisions and engine ingestions on the ramp represent a surprisingly non-zero event.
JonNYC subsequently released a video confirming the tragedy.
Ramp personnel operate close to moving aircraft, running engines, and heavy equipment. These elements create a high-risk environment that becomes more hazardous when procedures are not followed or visibility is low.
Engine ingestion and vehicle collisions remain uncommon, yet they occur more often than many expect for a safety-focused industry.
Why These Accidents Keep Happening
Standard ramp protocol forbids anyone from entering the hazard zone until the parking brake is set, engines are shut down, and the anti-collision beacon is off. Yet exceptions erode vigilance.
Aircraft frequently arrive with inoperative auxiliary power units (APUs), requiring one engine to remain running at the gate until ground power connects. Crews sometimes internalize “plane at gate = engines off” even when that assumption is false.
Cockpit visibility of personnel near the engines is extremely limited, especially at night or in poor weather. Hand signals get misinterpreted.
The relative rarity of incidents breeds complacency: because disasters “never happen,” workers feel safe taking shortcuts.
Wing walkers focused on wingtip clearance may not notice a tug behind them or step into an engine’s intake zone.
Documented Engine Ingestion Cases
- December 31, 2022 – American Eagle (MQ) flight AA3408, an Embraer 175 operated by Envoy Air, arrived at Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM) from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) with an inoperative APU. A Piedmont Airlines (PT) ramp agent approached the idling left engine to place cones and was ingested. The NTSB cited repeated close approaches despite warnings and cannabis-related cognitive impairment.
- June 23, 2023 – Delta Air Lines (DL) flight 1111 from Los Angeles (LAX) to San Antonio (SAT) taxied to the gate on one engine. A ground worker was fatally injured; authorities later classified the event as suicide.
Tug and Aircraft Movement Fatalities
- January 27, 2025 – An American Airlines (AA) wing walker at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) was run over from behind by the pushback tug after guiding the aircraft away from the gate.
Older cases include:
- 1989 – An American Airlines (AA) ramp guide stumbled into nose gear during pushback at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU), San Juan.
- 1992 – US Airways (US) worker killed by tug at LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
- 1997 – Delta Air Lines (DL) wing walker at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) stepped in front of moving nose gear to retrieve a headset cord and was crushed.
Bottom Line
No speculation is offered here regarding the specific causes of the November 12 incident at Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW).
The event simply reminds everyone that ramp work is more dangerous than most passengers, and even many who perform it daily often realize.
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