Aircraft worker sucked into engine

A 51-year-old engineer working at a New Zealand aircraft testing centre was sucked into an engine and killed.

Domestic carrier Air New Zealand said the man was performing routine maintenance on a Lockheed C-130 Hercules engine at the Woodbourne airfield in Blenheim when the tragedy happened.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said the engine was sitting on a stand without propellers attached and was not fixed to a plane at the time.

Tasman Police communications manager Barbara Dunn said emergency services performed CPR but could not revive the man.

The man worked for a Safe Air, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand.