Engineer sucked into plane engine dies

A 49-year-old engineer is dead after he was sucked into a plane's engine in New Zealand.

He was pulled into the Hercules engine during routine maintenance at the Woodbourne Airport near Blenheim on Monday, according to AAP reports.

He was employed by Safe Air, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand.

A former employee told the Marlborough Express the engine wasn't fitted to an aircraft when the man was killed.

He said Safe Air tested Hercules engines on a frame in a remote corner of the airport once they had been serviced.

The man was thought to have entered the testing enclosure while the engine was running.

A source told the paper the engine had been taken into a Royal New Zealand Air Force hanger to be dismantled to recover the body.

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