Summary Tragic incident at Chicago O'Hare Airport as woman's body becomes trapped in baggage conveyor belt. Woman was not an airport employee, entered non-public area, and was found unresponsive in Terminal 5. Chicago Police investigating the death of Virginia Christine Vinton of North Carolina.
Airport not high-security. A 57-year-old woman was killed at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Thursday, August 8, following her body becoming entangled in the conveyor belt at one of the country's busiest airports. The incident happened in one of the airport's non-public baggage rooms.
The US Department of Labor confirmed to local media that the individual was not an employee at the airport. CCTV footage has identified that the woman was seen entering the non-public baggage processing area at 02:27 local time. Responding to the distress call at 07:30 local time, the Chicago Fire Department was alerted to an 'unresponsive female,' who had become pinned to the machinery that is used to move baggage, and the woman was found in the baggage area of Terminal 5, which is the predominant terminal used at the airport for international flights.
Airport officials noted that the area was not classed as high-security, and her entering the area would not have been deemed a security breach. The Chicago Police Department is conducting an investigation, pending a post-mortem of the woman's body. When medics arrived, the woman was already unresponsive and then pronounced dead on the scene.
The area was declared a crime scene while investigations are ongoing, and her identity has since been revealed, as reported by the Associated Press , as Virginia Christine Vinton of Waxhaw, North Carolina. It remains unclear how or why Vinton entered the non-public area, and there is currently no footage identifying how Vinton became trapped in the baggage carousel. Simple Flying extends its sympathies to Vinton's family for their loss.
Get all the latest airline route news right here Chicago O'Hare International Airport In May, as per data from OAG , a global travel data company, reported that O'Hare was the fourth busiest airport in the United States by available seats, with 4,136,724 available for travelers. While no US airport is noted in OAG's data for being in the world's top ten busiest international airports, the Illinois-based airport continues to see growth in both domestic and international services. Within the next 12 months, the airport is set to welcome services with: American Eagle Evansville, from September 4 Avianca Bogota, resuming October 27 Contour Airlines Cape Girardeau, from October 1 Fort Leonard Wood, from October 2 Spirit Airlines Detroit, beginning August 14 United Airlines (one of the airport's busiest carriers) Delhi, resuming March 29, 2025 Knoxville, from August 19 Volaris Monterrey, from November 3 Air New Zealand stopped its direct service to Auckland Airport due to the Rolls-Royce engine maintenance issues on Boeing 787s.
The service, which once connected Chicago's airport to all six inhabited continents, is expected to resume in late 2025 . Chicago O'Hare has grown as the main airport for the city as well as a hub for several airlines. Get all the latest aviation news for North America here.
