MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) -
A contractor was killed in a backhoe accident on Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport property Monday morning.
Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Pat Hogan said a crew was dredging a pond on MAC property around 10 a.m. when the backhoe tipped over onto the driver and crushed him.
At this point, it is unclear whether the worker tried to jump off the backhoe or fell as it went over, but the equipment fell on tip of him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The accident happened near the entrance to Ft. Snelling State Park.
Hogan said the ground was soft, so the crew was laying down planks to give the backhoe something to drive over.
The worker was a contractor with J.M. Hentges & Sons of Jordan, Minn.
Work was being done to dredge ponds and add drainage tile as part of a project to filter-out chemicals from rain and snowmelt runoff at the airport. Monday marked the first day of the project.
