A MAN has reportedly been sucked into a plane engine and killed on an airport runway in Milan.

Operations at the busy Orio al Serio Airport, popularly known as Milano Bergamo, came to a halt at 10.20am after a “fatal accident” on the tarmac.

According to Corriere della Sera, the victim was not a passenger or airport staff member.

The person believed to have run onto the tarmac and into the path of an aircraft that was taxing for takeoff, the Italian paper reported.

Airport sources told the outlet that the person was pulled into the aircraft engine in a horrifying moment just as the plane was preparing to depart.

The airline involved has not yet been named.

Airport operator SACBO confirmed a “problem that occurred on the taxiway” and said “the causes of the problem are currently being investigated by the authorities.”

Flight operations at Orio al Serio – one of Italy’s busiest airports – have been suspended since the moment of the incident, with a cascading effect on travel across the region.

By 11.50am local time, a total of nine flights had already been diverted – one to Bologna, two to Verona, and six rerouted to Milan Malpensa.

Eight departures were also cancelled outright.

It is not yet known when operations at Milano Bergamo Airport will return to normal.

The airport’s official X account confirmed the halt in operations: “SACBO announces that flight operations at Milan Bergamo Airport were suspended at 10.20 am due to a problem that occurred on the taxiway.

The causes of the problem are currently being investigated by the authorities.”

“The area remains cordoned off as authorities work to determine how the man was able to breach security and get so close to a moving aircraft.