Two workers killed in explosion at Delta Air Lines facility in Atlanta

ATLANTA (Reuters) – Two workers were killed and another seriously injured on Tuesday when a tire blew out at a Delta Air Lines maintenance facility near Atlanta's airport.

Delta said the explosion occurred while wheel parts were being dismantled for maintenance at a wheel and brake repair shop. The company added that the parts were not installed on the plane at the time.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it had opened an investigation. Delta said it was working with authorities and the cause of the explosion had not been determined.

Multiple Atlanta Fire and Police units responded to the maintenance depot near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport shortly after 5 a.m., The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported: The airport management said that flights were not affected, and Delta said that its maintenance operations were not affected.

“The Delta family is deeply saddened by the loss of two team members and the injury of another following an incident this morning at our maintenance and technical operations facility in Atlanta,” Delta said in a statement. “We have offered our full support to the family and colleagues during this extremely difficult time.”

Delta thanked first responders and medical teams, and said the injured worker remained under medical care until late Tuesday afternoon.

“We are now working with local authorities and conducting a full investigation to determine what happened,” the Atlanta-based airline said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was in contact with Delta, but the FAA referred a request for additional information about the apparent incident to the airline. Eric Lucero, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the federal workplace safety agency has launched an investigation.

The facility where the explosion occurred is part of Delta TechOps, which performs maintenance, repair and overhaul work for Delta and more than 150 airline and corporate customers around the world.

Delta's chief technology officer, TechOps executive vice president John Lofter, said in a memo to employees that the airline will provide employee consultants.

“We are all in this together, and we will get through it by supporting each other,” he added.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens took to Twitter to offer his condolences to the victims' relatives.

The International Association of Machinists and Airline Workers, which is trying to organize 20,000 ground workers at the largely non-union Delta airline, called on the airline and authorities “to swiftly launch a comprehensive investigation into how this happened.”