An engineer was killed when he was sucked into a Hercules plane engine at Woodbourne Airport near Blenheim this morning.
Three fire engines and several police cars converged on the corner of the airfield where an engine turbine testing area is set up.
Tasman Police acting district commander Inspector Steve Caldwell said police were assisting an Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) investigation after the man, 51, from Blenheim, was killed at a remote corner of the airfield about 8.15am.
Caldwell said how the man died was ''all assumption at this stage'', however, three sources have said he was sucked into a plane engine.
Caldwell said emergency services performed CPR on the man but he was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity would not be released until next of kin had been informed.
A source said OSH were on site and the C-130 Hercules engine had been taken into the RNZAF hangar to be dismantled and to allow the man's remains to be recovered.
He said the man had been working on a contract to maintain the C-130.
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe was travelling to Blenheim to support the man's family, friends and colleagues following the accident, the airline said.
A former employee said 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 had reportedly entered the testing enclosure while the engine was running.
SAFE Air confirmed that an engineer died during what it called a "routine maintenance operation" at its Blenheim base.
It was working with police and the Department of Labour on the investigation.
Blenheim Airport manager Dean Heiford said the accident happened at an engine testing area operated by Safe Air.
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