American Airlines worker found to have been killed by accident after an airline investigator suggested it may have been suicide, report says

• Austin police ruled an AA worker was killed in April by accident, per the Austin American-Statesman.
• The tug that killed Michal Ingraham was in an incident 10 days before his death, per the report.

An American Airlines employee who died in April when he was involved in a crash on the airport tarmac was found to have been killed by accident, after a corporate investigator for the airline suggested it may have been a suicide, a report says.

Michal Ingraham died at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on April 20 from injuries sustained when the aircraft-towing vehicle he was driving accelerated more than expected and crashed into a jet bridge.

According to a police report obtained by the Austin American-Statesman, the tug he was operating was known by some staff to have "several mechanical issues."

This included a brake failure that caused a collision 10 days before Ingraham's death.

The report also states that Lynn Fast, a corporate investigator for American Airlines, contacted police a day after the incident telling them he had been led to believe that the incident may have been a suicide rather than an accident.

He came to this conclusion after calling Ingraham's father, who apologized to Fast for the incident, as well as from Facebook posts found on Ingraham's profile, according to the newspaper.

However, according to the police report seen by the Statesman, Austin police rebuffed that claim following interviews with Ingraham's colleagues and a lack of clarity from Fast about some of his claims.

Austin police were also tipped off by an anonymous employee who said that despite being "marked 'out of service' numerous times for failed brakes," the vehicle wasn't repaired and continued to be operated by staff.

Both the Travis County medical examiner and police concluded that the worker had been killed by accident, per the report.

Police will defer to an ongoing investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), according to the police report seen by the newspaper.

The agency is understood to be examining Menzies, the company responsible for maintenance of the tug.

American Airlines, Austin Police Department, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, OSHA and Menzies didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.