Worker Dies After Forklift Falls on Top of Him at Boston Airport

Jun 29, 2023

The 51-year-old man was operating the forklift when it struck part of a stationary structure attached to a service entrance outside Terminal C, authorities said

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A man was killed on Tuesday after suffering severe injuries in a forklift accident at Logan International Airport, authorities said.

The 51-year-old man from Winthrop, Mass., was pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center, Massachusetts State Police said in a news release.

The accident happened at about 3:30 p.m. in a loading area outside Terminal C at the airport, in an area without public access, MSP said.

The victim — whose name has not been released but was identified as an employee of a JetBlue sub-contractor — was operating a forklift when it struck part of a stationary structure related to a service entrance, causing the machinery to overturn on top of him, per MSP’s news release.

“The forklift’s backrest extension—a part of the equipment that attaches to the front and is designed to keep loads stable and protect the operator from loads falling toward him—was raised,” police said in the release. “The forklift’s extended backrest was too high to clear the lateral beam over the service entrance. The extended backrest collided with the beam, causing the forklift to tip over and come to rest on top of the victim, who had been ejected to the pavement.”

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A JetBlue employee who heard the crash and other co-workers used an aircraft tow bar to lift the forklift off the man., per the release. MSP troopers, Massport Fire and Boston EMS responded and transported the victim to hospital where he died, police said.

Jennifer Mehigan, a spokesperson for Massport, which manages Logan, told The Boston Globe that the man was doing maintenance work for the airline, and that there were no aircraft in the area at the time of the accident.

Massachusetts State Police patrols, detectives and crime scene personnel are currently investigating the accident.