I saw Milan airport horror unfold when man was sucked into engine… we feared it was a terror attack after security botch

The Irish Sun

09-07-2025

SECURITY at a Milan airport has come under scrutiny after a man broke onto the runway and died when he was sucked into a plane's jet engine.
Witnesses to the horrific sequence at Orio al Serio Airport have revealed their doubts about security BEFORE the incident - and feared a terrorist had slipped through.
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Andrea Russo, 35, died after he was sucked into a jet engine at Milan's Orio al Serio Airport on Monday
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A new aerial view of the Volotea plane that killed Andrea around 1.5 hours after the tragedy
Credit: Ryan Trumpeter
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Ryan Trumpeter, 37, was returning from a wedding in Lake Como when his plane was delayed by the incident, and sat on the runway while teams responded
Credit: Supplied
Andrea Russo, a 35-year-old builder from Calcinate in
Italy
, was able to run through the terminal, bust through a security door and then sprint onto the tarmac.
One Brit passenger, Ryan Trumpeter, 37, was on a Ryanair plane to
Manchester
on the same runway when the drama unfolded - and he witnessed the emergency response while his flight was delayed.
Ryan, from West Bromwich, told The Sun: 'Our pilot had no idea what was going on, but told everyone to look to their right because there had been an incident.
"The whole plane was really confused - at first we thought it might have been a terrorist incident, that's what people were saying."
Word finally got round that a man had died after breaking onto the runway.
Training manager Ryan said that - along with other passengers - he was not particularly surprised to hear about the security lapse.
He noticed going through security that the standards were "crap" compared to British airports.
One scene in particular inside the terminal had made him particularly concerned.
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Ryan said: "While we were going through the security gates, there was a man going absolutely mental at the staff. He was shouting in their face and just going crazy.
"There was a policeman right there but he wasn't doing anything, just holding his hand up.
Airport runway trespasser 'sucked into plane engine and killed' in Milan
"If that had been in the UK, he'd definitely have been escorted away.
"At the other end, other security officers were busy training a group of staff."
Ryan is not the only one asking urgent questions about the security operation at Orio al Serio.
Sources familiar with airport's system said the man's path through restricted areas was both rapid and shocking, La Voce del Patriota reported.
Yet the man allegedly bypassed them all, on foot, in broad daylight, and under pursuit.
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The Volotea plane had been preparing for taxiing with the jets on
Credit: ilfattoquotidiano.IT
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Operations at the airport ground to a halt while teams dealt with the incident
Credit: bergamonews.it
Aviation authorities and police are now under pressure to explain how someone with no clearance managed to access the runway so quickly — and why intervention came too late.
The builder reportedly drove his Fiat 500 the wrong way into the airport arrivals area and ditched his car near the terminal.
After entering the ground-floor terminal, he is said to have forced his way through a security door in a matter of seconds
.
The door led directly from the arrivals hall to the aircraft parking area — a supposedly high-security zone.
He was spotted by a police officer and chased, but still managed to sprint across the tarmac and reach a Volotea
A319 just as it was preparing for taxiing.
The authorities are now facing tough questions about how this could have been allowed to happen at one of Italy's busiest travel hubs.
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An airline spokesperson said: "A person, who was not a passenger or airport personnel, trespassed onto the runway while the aircraft was preparing for
takeoff
.
"Sadly, the person was struck by the engine and has passed
away.
"The airline deeply regrets this tragic incident and extends its condolences to the family of the person involved.
"All 154 passengers on board, along with the 6 Volotea crew members, are physically safe.
"Passengers were promptly deboarded and taken to a designated area, where provisions were made available. Psychological support was also offered to both passengers and crew members."
Giovanni Sanga, CEO of the group which operates Milan Bergamo Airport, offered his "personal condolences to Andrea's family.
He said: "The dramatic event has shocked the entire airport community.
"First of all, I would like to express my personal condolences and those of the company to the victim's family, to whom we are close in this terrible moment."
While waiting on the tarmac, Ryan could see "loads of police and fire engines", which "made a barrier" in front of the Volotea plane.
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He said: 'We managed to take off about an hour-and-a-half later - we were the only flight that didn't have to disembark.
'It's all just really odd. Someone shouldn't be able to just run onto the tarmac like that past all the security."