A ground crew worker was killed after being sucked into the engine of a Delta plane as it was taxiing at San Antonio airport

• An airline worker was sucked into the engine of a Delta plane at San Antonio International Airport in Texas.
• The employee was killed after being "ingested" into the engine.

A ground crew worker at San Antonio International Airport, Texas, was killed after being sucked into an engine on the tarmac.

The incident occurred at 10:25 p.m. on Friday after the Delta plane arrived from Los Angeles and was taxiing to the gate, The National Transportation Safety Board said, per DailyMail.com.

The board confirmed that the ground crew employee died after being "ingested" into the engine of the Airbus A319, the outlet reported.

"The NTSB has been in contact with Delta. They are in the information-gathering process at this point," the board said.

A tourist who witnessed the clean-up operation told a local TV station that the gate was in "turmoil after the incident, and when he looked out at the plane, there was a large tarp beneath the engine and a Hazmat crew in attendance.

The employee, who is yet to be identified, was employed by Delta Air Lines contractor Unifi and worked to support ground handling operations.

"An accident occurred on the ground at San Antonio International Airport (SAT) tonight that resulted in the fatality of an airline ground crew member," the airport said in a statement, per DailyMail.com.

"We are deeply saddened by this incident and are working with authorities as they begin their investigation. We will share more information as details become available."

Unifi Aviation, the company that employed the worker, said it was "deeply saddened" by the "tragic incident" and noted that an initial investigation indicates this was unrelated to the company's safety procedures, per the outlet.

"Out of respect for the deceased, we will not be sharing any additional information. While police and other officials continue to investigate this incident, we defer to them on providing further details," Unifi said.

'From our initial investigation, this incident was unrelated to Unifi's operational processes, safety procedures, and policies," it added.

This is the second incident of its kind to occur at an airport in the US in the past year.

Airline worker Courtney Edwards, a mother of three, was similarly "ingested" into the engine of a plane in Alabama earlier this year.