Questions raised in bizarre death of El Paso airplane mechanic.

The Jan. 16 death of mechanic Donald Gene Buchanan, 64, who was sucked into a jet engine of a Continental Airlines Boeing 737 that was loading passengers, may have happened because airport maintenance procedures appear not to have been followed, the El Paso Times reported today (here and here) on its Web site.

According to documents obtained by the Times under the Texas Public Information Act, maintenance tests for jet engines called "run-ups" that require more than "idle" engine power must be performed in a designated area far from the terminal at El Paso International Airport, the Times reported.

According to a preliminary report prepared by Bill Gamble, an air safety investigator from Arlington, Texas, for the National Transportation Safety Board, Buchanan had been working with a crew checking on a leak near the Boeing 737 when the Continental captain was asked to run an engine to 70 percent of its power -- far more than "idle" speed, the Times reported.

According to airport procedures, jet engine power is limited to "idle" one engine at a time for no more than five minutes, and if more power is required, unless for taxiing, it must be done at a designated area aome 2 1/2 miles away from the terminal, according to the Times.

Thorleifurm Juliusson, owner of Julie's Aircraft Service for which Buchanan worked, told the Times, however, that the authority to conduct an engine "run-up" at 70 percent of power belongs to the captain of the aircraft, and that is the captain -- not the mechanic -- who must make the decision to take the aircraft to a designated area.

Continental Airlines as well as El Paso International Airport officials declined to comment because of the ongoing NTSB investigation, the paper reported.

And Gamble, the investigator, told the Times he couldn't comment on whether any airport rules were violated. It may be months before the NTSB investigation is completed and a final report is issued, Gamble told the paper.

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