{"id":545,"date":"2026-05-12T11:37:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/05\/12\/delta-worker-identified-cause-of-death-revealed-after-hes-killed-at-orlando-airport-in-tragic-accident\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:37:35","slug":"delta-worker-identified-cause-of-death-revealed-after-hes-killed-at-orlando-airport-in-tragic-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/05\/12\/delta-worker-identified-cause-of-death-revealed-after-hes-killed-at-orlando-airport-in-tragic-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta Worker Identified, Cause of Death Revealed After He\u2019s Killed at Orlando Airport in Tragic Accident"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The staff member has been identified as Daniel Maldonado, 49, according to reports<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/6Wv7DHAPjny-Df0CWH4-qyKjzvQ=\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)\/Orlando-international-airport-100725-4b45031b61254cc0a631d63217177ff0.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of the Orlando International AirportCredit: Saul Martinez\/Getty\" title=\"General view of the Orlando International Airport ahead of Hurricane Milton on October 9, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. \" \/><figcaption><i>A photo of the Orlando International Airport<br \/>Credit: Saul Martinez\/Getty<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A Delta Air Lines employee, who was killed at Orlando International Airport on Thursday, May 7, has been identified as Daniel Maldonado, according to reports<\/li>\n<li>Maldonado died after an aircraft tug vehicle collided with a jet bridge at around 10:55 p.m. local time<\/li>\n<li>A report from the Ninth Circuit Medical Examiner\u2019s Office, which serves Orange and Osceola counties, stated that 49-year-old Maldonado\u2019s death was accidental, adding that he died of multiple blunt impact injuries, per WESH 2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A Delta Air Lines employee who died at Orlando International Airport (MCO) has been identified.<\/p>\n<p>PEOPLE <a class=\"null\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/delta-worker-dies-at-airport-after-tug-vehicle-crashes-into-jet-bridge-11970901\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"null\">previously reported<\/a> that a staff member had been killed when an aircraft tug vehicle collided with a jet bridge at around 10:55 p.m. local time on Thursday, May 7.<\/p>\n<p>The aircraft had just landed and was preparing to deplane when the incident took place, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox35orlando.com\/news\/cause-death-revealed-delta-team-member-orlando-international-airport\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fox 35 Orlando<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The crew member has now been identified as Daniel Maldonado, according to Fox 35 Orlando, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2026\/05\/11\/delta-worker-killed-after-vehicle-crash-at-orlando-airport-identified\/90036543007\/\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Detroit News<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wesh.com\/article\/delta-employee-died-on-job-orlando-airport-identified\/71270081\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"2\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WESH 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/WjDhzbEbZ60KfDtQkxO7gLAdMw4=\/fit-in\/1280x960\/Delta-Airlines-planes-orlando-airport-051226-31bae584dd074b5e894e3537d69900d1.jpg\" alt=\"A stock photo of Delta Air Lines planes at Orlando International AirportCredit: MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO\/AFP via Getty\" title=\"File image of Delta Airlines planes at Orlando International Airport in Orlando\" \/><figcaption><i>A stock photo of Delta Air Lines planes at Orlando International Airport<br \/>Credit: MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO\/AFP via Getty<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.dotdashmeredith.com\/people-news-inline\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>PEOPLE&#8217;s free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a><strong> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A report from the Ninth Circuit Medical Examiner\u2019s Office, which serves Orange and Osceola counties, stated on Friday, May 8 that 49-year-old Maldonado\u2019s death was accidental, per WESH 2. The report added that the victim, from Orlando, died of multiple blunt impact injuries, the outlet noted.<\/p>\n<p>The Orlando Police Department also confirmed to Fox 35 Orlando on Friday that the incident appeared to be accidental, citing preliminary information.<\/p>\n<p>PEOPLE has reached out to the District Nine Medical Examiner&#8217;s Office and Orlando Police Department for comment, but didn&#8217;t immediately receive a response.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/FqQzG2mnP_S08RHcu1a4nD7SQcw=\/fit-in\/1280x960\/Orlando-PD-vehicle-051226-362f9ee30ef34c2189f1707f06960758.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of an Orlando Police Department vehicleCredit: Orlando Police Department\/Facebook\" title=\"Orlando PD vehicle\" \/><figcaption><i>A photo of an Orlando Police Department vehicle<br \/>Credit: Orlando Police Department\/Facebook<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Delta Air Lines previously confirmed to PEOPLE that they had lost a staff member.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Delta family is heartbroken at the loss of a team member while on the job at Orlando International Airport on the evening of May 7,\u201d a spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time. We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n<p>Following the incident, operations at Delta&#8217;s Orlando station were paused as staff worked closely with investigators. As of Friday afternoon, operations had resumed at MCO, PEOPLE previously reported.<\/p>\n<p>During the suspension, one Delta flight was canceled, and passengers were able to be rebooked through other airlines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the airport previously told PEOPLE, \u201cThe Orlando International Airport community is deeply saddened about the loss of a team member from one of our airline partners, a member of our extended airport family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe send our condolences to his family and friends,\u201d they added.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The staff member has been identified as Daniel Maldonado, 49, according to reports A photo of the Orlando International AirportCredit: Saul Martinez\/Getty NEED TO KNOW A Delta Air Lines employee, who was killed at Orlando International Airport on Thursday, May 7, has been identified as Daniel Maldonado, according to reports Maldonado died after an aircraft [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everything-else"],"wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"1":{"name":"Everything Else","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/category\/everything-else\/"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}