Delta Air Lines Worker’s Body ‘Unrecognizable’ After Fatal Tire Explosion, Says Grieving Son
IN ATLANTA — A worker died Tuesday in a tire explosion at a Delta Air Lines maintenance plant near the Atlanta airport. His son told a news outlet that his family had to use tattoos and a lanyard to figure out who he was.
Mirko Marweg, 58, was one of two workers who died at a wheel and brake shop while wheel parts were being taken apart for repair. A third person was hurt very badly.
Andre Coleman, Marweg’s son, told Atlanta’s 11Alive news station on Tuesday that he didn’t think his father was dead and wanted to see him. However, the family was told by the medical inspector that the body could not be identified.
Coleman said the Mississippi State lanyard around his neck helped prove who he was.
11Alive said that Marweg, who lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia, had worked for Delta for more than 20 years and was going to retire soon. Coleman said that his father was a kind man who had helped him change the oil in his scooter on Sunday.
“That’s the kind of dad he was.” Collins said, “He was always there.”
The second person killed was named as 37-year-old Luis Aldarondo from Newnan, Georgia, by the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office. Delta spokeswoman Samantha Moore Facteau said in an email that the worker who was badly hurt was still getting medical care on Wednesday.
Delta had said before that the parts of the wheels that were being taken apart when the explosion happened were not connected to an airplane at the time.
The government Occupational Safety and Health Administration said they were looking into the matter. The reason for the blast has not been made public.
The building where the explosion happened is part of Delta TechOps. This group does maintenance, repair, and overhaul work for Delta and over 150 other airlines and flying companies around the world.