Stay Away From the Big Hole With the Spinning Thing

This is what you'd call a bad day at work:

EL PASO, Texas — An airplane mechanic was killed Monday morning after he was sucked into a jet's engine while passengers were boarding from the tarmac, officials said.

"A mechanic walked in front of the engine and was pulled into the engine," National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Lauren Peduzzi said.

She said she didn't know if any passengers saw the accident as they boarded Continental Airlines flight 1515 to Houston. A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said the worker was sucked into the right engine of the 737-500.

I'm actually surprised this doesn't happen more often. As our American Airlines 737-800 was pulling into the gate in Orange County last Monday, a ground handler walked right across in front of the right engine, even before the plane had come to a stop. I remember thinking that the guy was taking his life into his hands crossing so close to the intake. If for some reason the pilot had goosed the throttles, that guy would have been toast.

Fortunately, he made out better than the guy in El Paso.