Delta airline employee dies on duty at Orlando International Airport after tug hits jet bridge

A Delta Airline employee died Thursday night while on duty at the Orlando International Airport in Florida, after a tug collided with the airport's jet bridge, officials confirmed Friday.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the tug hit the jet bridge where a parked Delta plane was waiting at a gate. 

Delta paused its operations at the airport briefly to investigate the collision, but only one flight was canceled because of the incident. All passengers were accommodated on other flights, according to Fox-35 Orlando.

"The Delta family is heartbroken at the loss of a team member while on the job at Orlando International Airport," Delta said in a statement. "We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time. We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred."

The airline employee has only been identified as a 49-year-old man and a report from the Ninth Circuit Medical Examiner’s Office determined the death was accidental, according to WESH-2, and that he died from multiple blunt impact injuries. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.