Italian Man Sucked Into Jet Engine, Killed
At 10:20 AM on July 8, 2025, Milan’s Orio al Serio Airport—Italy’s third busiest—was thrust into chaos. Andrea Russo, a 35-year-old builder from Calcinate, breached security, abandoned his car, and sprinted onto the active runway. Despite a police pursuit, he reached a Volotea Airbus A319, which was preparing for departure to Asturias, Spain. As the aircraft commenced its pushback maneuver, Russo was tragically sucked into the left engine, resulting in his immediate death.
The man, believed to be about 35 years old, reportedly ran onto the airport runway and was pulled into the engine of a Volotea Airbus A319 preparing for departure#Milan #Italy #FlightDisruption https://t.co/nyBw2dQwTt
— News18 (@CNNnews18) July 8, 2025
Breach of Security
The incident in Milan was more than a tragedy—it was a full-blown failure of airport security on nearly every level. Andrea Russo didn’t sneak in through a back door or hack some gate codes. He drove the wrong way down an airport road, ditched his car, strolled through the arrivals area, popped open a security door, and made his way straight onto an active runway. Not one soul stopped him. No alarms, no guards, no cameras worth their salt—just an open path to disaster.
The fact that Russo got close enough to a taxiing Airbus A319 to be pulled into a running jet engine is more than a morbid curiosity—it’s a flashing red light. That part of the tarmac is supposed to be locked down tighter than a submarine hatch. Only vetted, trained personnel are allowed near an active aircraft, and even they have to follow strict protocols.
Russo wasn’t just in the wrong place—he was in the most dangerous place imaginable, right as the jet was preparing for departure. The plane had 154 passengers and six crew members on board. One false move—one pilot reacting to the wrong thing—and this could’ve turned into a mass casualty event.
At 10:20 AM on July 8, 2025, Milan’s Orio al Serio Airport—Italy’s third busiest—was thrust into chaos. Andrea Russo, a 35-year-old builder from Calcinate, breached security, abandoned his car, and sprinted onto the active runway. Despite a police pursuit, he reached a Volotea Airbus A319, which was preparing for departure to Asturias, Spain. As the aircraft commenced its pushback maneuver, Russo was tragically sucked into the left engine, resulting in his immediate death.
The man, believed to be about 35 years old, reportedly ran onto the airport runway and was pulled into the engine of a Volotea Airbus A319 preparing for departure#Milan #Italy #FlightDisruption https://t.co/nyBw2dQwTt
— News18 (@CNNnews18) July 8, 2025
Breach of Security
The incident in Milan was more than a tragedy—it was a full-blown failure of airport security on nearly every level. Andrea Russo didn’t sneak in through a back door or hack some gate codes. He drove the wrong way down an airport road, ditched his car, strolled through the arrivals area, popped open a security door, and made his way straight onto an active runway. Not one soul stopped him. No alarms, no guards, no cameras worth their salt—just an open path to disaster.
The fact that Russo got close enough to a taxiing Airbus A319 to be pulled into a running jet engine is more than a morbid curiosity—it’s a flashing red light. That part of the tarmac is supposed to be locked down tighter than a submarine hatch. Only vetted, trained personnel are allowed near an active aircraft, and even they have to follow strict protocols.
Russo wasn’t just in the wrong place—he was in the most dangerous place imaginable, right as the jet was preparing for departure. The plane had 154 passengers and six crew members on board. One false move—one pilot reacting to the wrong thing—and this could’ve turned into a mass casualty event.
Beyond the horror of what happened, the fallout was immediate and disruptive. Flights were halted at one of Italy’s busiest airports for nearly two hours. Travelers were stranded, flights diverted, and emergency services scrambled across the tarmac. It wasn’t some isolated hiccup—the carnage brought the whole operation to a screeching halt.
Now the Italian authorities are tearing through every inch of the airport’s security protocol, trying to answer the one question that really matters: how the hell did this happen? The answer’s going to hurt. It wasn’t one door left unlocked—it was a complete systems breakdown. The physical barriers failed. The surveillance systems didn’t pick up on a rogue individual darting across restricted zones. And the human response—the boots on the ground—was nowhere in sight until it was far too late.
What this tragedy shows, plain as day, is that the safeguards we trust to keep passengers, crew, and aircraft safe aren’t always as airtight as we think. This is a sobering reminder that a motivated individual with no clearance and nothing to lose can wreak havoc in a high-security environment if the right cracks are left unchecked.
That’s the kind of vulnerability that should keep every airport security chief up at night.
A Troubled Mind?
Right now, no one really knows why Andrea Russo made his way onto that runway in Milan. Authorities haven’t confirmed what his intentions were, and speculation is running ahead of the facts. Some early reports suggest he may have gone there on purpose, possibly intending to take his own life, but that hasn’t been nailed down by officials.
The Italian news agency ANSA quoted police sources who believe suicide is a possibility, but they’re still investigating and haven’t committed to that conclusion. For now, the why behind Russo’s actions remains a mystery. Investigators are keeping things close to the chest while they dig into the details, and until they release more information, we’re left with more questions than answers.
Not an Isolated Incident
While rare, incidents of individuals being ingested by jet engines have occurred before. In May 2024, a person was fatally sucked into a KLM Embraer jet engine at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in what was later ruled a suicide. Similarly, in June 2023, an airport worker in San Antonio, Texas, died after being pulled into a jet engine, with the medical examiner ruling it a suicide.
Aftermath and Reflection
The gristly tarmac shutdown at Bergamo threw a wrench into Italy’s air traffic, grounding flights and turning passengers into stranded spectators in a nightmare.
If this grim episode doesn’t light a fire under the aviation world to tighten security and take mental health seriously, then we’re all one bad day away from the next morbid headline.
