Maintenance incident at Atlanta airport kills 2 Delta Air Lines employees

An accident at a maintenance facility at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport early Tuesday, August 27, killed two Delta Air Lines employees and injured another, PEOPLE can confirm.

The airline said in a statement that the accident occurred in the wheel and brake shop of the Technical Operations Maintenance Facility in Atlanta and killed two team members. Another person was injured.

Delta officials called it an “accident,” and John Laughter, executive vice president and chief operations officer and president of TechOps, said in a statement that the third victim “sustained serious injuries.”

Laughter said the airline is providing counseling services to employees.

The facility is part of Delta TechOps, which provides maintenance and work for more than 150 aviation and airline customers around the world, according to the Associated Press.

The two deceased persons have been identified atlanta constitutionCiting the medical examiner, they were identified as 37-year-old Luis Aldarondo and 58-year-old Mirko Marweg.

Marwig’s wife told the newspaper that he was a “loving father, loving husband, loving brother.”

According to local TV station WSB, a tire “exploded” during repairs, sending metal flying and asian joint committee The incident “involved an aircraft wheel component at the factory that was not attached to the aircraft,” the report said.

“We are offering our full support to our families and colleagues during this extremely difficult time,” Delta said in a statement.

“The Delta family is grateful for the quick actions of the first responders and medical teams on scene,” the airline said. “We are now working with local authorities to conduct a full investigation to determine what occurred.”

The airport told People magazine that the incident had not affected their operations, while releasing a statement on X (formerly Twitter) expressing their “condolences.”

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Their statement continued: “Our prayers go out to the families affected by the tragic incident that occurred this morning at the Delta Air Lines Technical Operations and Maintenance Facility.”

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also expressed his sympathy in X’s statement.

“My thoughts are also with those injured and I hope they make a speedy and full recovery,” Dickens said.

The mayor noted that the Atlanta Fire Department, Atlanta Police Department and airport officials were on scene working to resolve the issue.

The Federal Aviation Administration tells PEOPLE it is aware of the incident and is in contact with Delta.