ATLANTA — The family of one of the employees killed in a tire explosion at the Delta Air Lines maintenance shop at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is now suing the airline.
Sonia Cruz, the mother of Luis Aldarondo’s two children and executor of his estate, is suing Delta for negligence resulting in his death.
Aldarondo and fellow employee Mirko Marweg died as a result of the accident in August 2024, when a tire exploded at the maintenance shop at Atlanta’s airport, sending a piece of metal “flying like a missile,” killing the two workers and seriously injuring another, sources previously told Channel 2 Action News.
Cruz alleges in her lawsuit against Delta that the company was in breach of its duties as far as safety.
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The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the incident and cited Delta for $16,500 in February, which the company paid near the end of March.
The OSHA citation said Delta “did not furnish the employees [with] a place of employment...free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm, in that; employees were exposed to struck-by hazards while servicing pressurized multi-piece aircraft rims.”
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Additionally, Delta “failed to ensure that adequate aircraft tire deflation procedures were developed and implemented to control the struck-by hazards associated with explosive separation of multi-piece aircraft wheel rims that can be caused by rapid depressurization of aircraft tires during wheel disassembly.”
On behalf of Aldarondo’s two children, Cruz is suing Delta for damages “for the full value of the life of Luis Aldarondo, for his wrongful death, in an amount to be proven at trial,” and are requesting a jury trial.
Cruz is also seeking damages to cover the personal injury resulting from Aldarondo’s death, funeral and burial expenses and damages for pain and suffering.
The lawsuit was filed Friday in Gwinnett County.
In response to the OSHA citation, the company said “At Delta, nothing is more important than safety. Following the tragic incident involving three team members late last summer, we launched a thorough investigation and have already implemented corrective actions that are consistent with those provided by OSHA.”
However, they declined to comment on the pending litigation.
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