Operations at the airport - one of Italy's busiest - are currently suspended until further notice

Juliana Cruz Lima, Foreign News Reporter

Published: 11:07, 8 Jul 2025Updated: 14:52, 8 Jul 2025

A MAN has reportedly been sucked into a plane engine and killed after breaking onto an airport runway in Milan.

Operations at the busy Orio al Serio Airport, known as Milano Bergamo, came to a halt at 10.20am local time Tuesday after a "fatal accident" involving a Volotea plane on the tarmac.

The unidentified Italian man, around 35, was not a passenger on the plane and had no association with the airline, according to Volotea.

He is believed to have broken into the airport by driving the wrong way down a road, abandoning his car and then running towards the terminal.

Once inside the ground-floor arrivals area, he is said to have opened a security door that leads directly to the aircraft parking area.

Witnesses said he was chased by police as he sprinted across the runway, according to La voce del Patriota, but they were unable to stop him.

He made a beeline for an Airbus A319 Volotea aircraft bound for Asturias, Spain.

Airport sources told local media that the man was pulled into the aircraft engine in a horrifying moment just as the plane was preparing to depart.

His death has not been officially confirmed by any major authorities but has been widely reported on local media.

According to La voce del Patriota, investigators are working on the strong possibility that the man’s actions were deliberate and premeditated.

“The most accredited hypothesis, although still under consideration, is that of a voluntary act, a premeditated suicide,” sources told the Italian outlet.

Flight V73511 was reportedly completing the "pushback" move to exit the parking area, which is the phase before taxiing and take-off.

The Airbus A319 can be equipped with two main types of engine - the CFM56-5B and the IAE V2500.

Each engine's rotors can spin at nearly 15,000 rotations per minute (RPM).

Airport operator SACBO confirmed a “problem that occurred on the taxiway” and said “the causes of the problem are currently being investigated by the authorities.”

In a statement on X, airline Volotea said: "We're investigating reports of an incident involving our flight V73511 BGY-OVD, which occurred on the ground after boarding was completed and ready for departure.

"We're aware that one individual has sustained serious injuries involving the aircraft engine. More information soon."

All flight operations at Orio al Serio - one of Italy’s busiest airports - were suspended from 10:20 to 12:00 - with numerous flights cancelled, delayed and diverted.

By 11.50am local time, a total of nine flights had already been diverted - one to Bologna, two to Verona, and six rerouted to Milan Malpensa.

Ryanair flights departing for Crotone, Katowice, Prague, Zadar, Tirana, Kos, Malta, Naples, Porto, Alghero, Dusseldorf (Eurowings) were among the many cancellations, reports Milano Today.

Air traffic resumed at 12pm local time, according to SACBO.

The airport previously confirmed the halt in operations on its official X account: “SACBO announces that flight operations at Milan Bergamo Airport were suspended at 10.20 am due to a problem that occurred on the taxiway.

“The causes of the problem are currently being investigated by the authorities."

Milano Bergamo is ranked as Italy's third busiest airport, having handled as many as 17.4 million passengers last year.

A significant portion of its traffic is driven by budget airline Ryanair.

Together with Milan Linate and Milan Malpensa, it is a part of the Milan airport system, which is the biggest in Italy in terms of passenger volume.

It comes after several British passengers reportedly suffered broken bones after a chaotic evacuation from a plane triggered by a false fire alarm at Palma Airport.

The incident unfolded just after midnight on Saturday, when an alarm sounded on the runway, sparking panic among passengers aboard a delayed Ryanair flight.

Screams rang out as people scrambled to escape, with many seen climbing out onto the plane's wing before jumping down to the tarmac.

A total of 18 people were injured, including two UK nationals said to have suffered fractures, despite Ryanair initially claiming only “very minor injuries” such as ankle sprains.

Footage from the scene showed emergency vehicles, including firefighters and police, rushing to assist amid the confusion.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5747575&forum_id=2...id.#49082579)