Atlanta airport explosion: Two killed, one injured after explosion in Delta maintenance facility

A major airport in the United States has been thrown into chaos after two people were killed and another injured when a tyre reportedly exploded at a maintenance facility.

The two people killed were reportedly conducting work at a Delta Air Lines maintenance facility near the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Several Atlanta fire units and police responded to the maintenance hangar shortly after 5am (local time), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“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 said in a statement.

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

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was in contact with Delta, but referred a request for additional information about the apparent accident to the airline. A spokesman for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Eric Lucero, said the agency had started an investigation.

The facility where the explosion happened is part of Delta TechOps, which performs maintenance, repair and overhaul work for Delta and more than 150 aviation and airline customers around the world.

The president of TechOps, Delta Executive Vice President John Laughter, said in a note to staff that the airline will make counsellors available to employees.

“We’re all in this together, and we’ll get through this by supporting each other,” he said.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens posted on X to offer his condolences to the relatives of the victims.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which is trying to organize 20,000 ground workers at largely nonunion Delta, called on the airline and authorities “to quickly launch a thorough investigation into how this happened.”

with AP