Andrea Russo Obituary, Death; – Witnesses have recounted the terrifying moment when an Italian builder “ran” onto the tarmac at an airport, only to be tragically sucked into a plane engine and killed.
Andrea Russo, a 35-year-old builder from Calcinate county in Bergamo, Lombardy, reportedly threw himself into the jet engine and was drawn in at Milan Bergamo Airport on Tuesday. Russo arrived at the busy airport without a ticket and is believed to have bypassed security, opening a door in the arrivals area that led directly to the aircraft parking zone. Distressed passengers on the plane shared their shocking accounts of that distressing moment.
Russo was drawn into the engine of an Airbus A319 Volotea plane at approximately 10:20 AM, causing the airport to come to a standstill. Witnesses aboard flight V73511, which was en route from Milan to Asturias in northern Spain, described the “horrific” scenes they experienced.
Carmen Garcia, a Spaniard, told the Asturian newspaper La Nueva Espana: “We were on the plane, preparing for takeoff with the engines running, when a person came running towards us. He went under the plane, and suddenly we felt a very strong vibration. People covered their heads and ducked down. Then the fire brigade, ambulances, and police began to arrive.”
Daniel Isla, a Chilean national residing in Italy, recounted: “I didn’t see anything but heard a tremendous noise from the engine turbine. Initially, we were unaware of what had happened, but then the crew informed us that a tragedy had occurred and someone had been sucked into the engine. It was a feeling of disbelief at first because we couldn’t comprehend what had transpired. We wanted to believe it was something else until we realized it was indeed true.”
Passenger Ana Sanchis, one of the 154 individuals on board, mentioned that the crew had instructed them to lower their window shades and avoid looking outside as it was “very unpleasant.” She added: “We exited via the right wing, where the incident took place, with firefighters creating a corridor all the way down and everything covered up. It was horrifying.
Another flyer Stefano Carrara told Spanish news site La Razon: “I thought it was a bird, but a girl said, ‘I see pieces of meat,’ an animal or something like that.” Police sources have reportedly said the man who died had a history of “drug problems”. Investigators are now working on the possibility that his actions were deliberate and premeditated.
The passengers due to leave Milan Bergamo at 10.30am yesterday ended up departing at 16.45pm in another plane and arrived in Asturias just before 7pm local time.
A witness, on another flight, told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera what they saw in that terrifying moment. The traveller said: “I saw a guy running away from officials At first he jumped against the engine on the right side of the plane and then he went around and jumped or was sucked into the other engine on the left.
“I couldn’t tell if it was voluntary or not, I couldn’t tell if he was sucked into the plane or threw himself at the aircraft.” Two officers at the airport chased after Russo but were not able to stop him before he reached the engine.
He is understood to have broken into the airport by driving the wrong way down a road before abandoning his car and then running into the terminal. Russo was not reported to have had any connection to the airline, according to Volotea.
Public Prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli said: “We are investigating on any possible relationships with the airport or the world of aeroplanes. In the car with which he arrived at the airport, full of all kinds of material, we have not found anything that could provide any kind of explanation.”
