Woman dies after being ‘trapped’ in baggage carousel at Chicago O’Hare International Airport

A 57-year-old woman was killed in Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Thursday, August 8, after her body became entangled in the conveyor belt at one of the country’s busiest airports. The incident occurred in one of the airport’s private baggage areas. The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed to local media that the person was not an airport employee. CCTV footage has shown that the woman was seen entering the private baggage handling area at 2:27 a.m. local time.

Responding to the 911 call at 7:30 a.m. local time, the Chicago Fire Department was notified of an “unresponsive female” stuck on the machinery used to transport baggage. The woman was found in the baggage area of ​​Terminal 5, the terminal used primarily for international flights at the airport. Airport officials noted that the area is not classified as a high-security area and her entering the area would not have been considered a security violation. Chicago Police are currently investigating pending an autopsy of the woman’s body.

By the time paramedics arrived, the woman was unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene. The area has been declared a crime scene while the investigation is ongoing, and her identity has since been revealed, the Associated Press reported, as Virginia Christine Vinton of Waxhaw, North Carolina. It remains unclear how or why Vinton entered the restricted area, and there is currently no footage showing Vinton becoming trapped in the baggage claim area. Simple Flying extends its condolences to Vinton’s family for their loss.

Chicago O’Hare International Airport

Chicago O’Hare International Airport

In May, O’Hare was the fourth-busiest U.S. airport by available seats, with 4,136,724 for travelers, according to data from OAG, a global travel data company. Although no U.S. airport is listed among the world’s top 10 busiest international airports in OAG’s data, the Illinois airport continues to see growth in domestic and international services. Within the next 12 months, the airport will offer the following services:

• American Eagle
  • Evansville, from September 4
• Avianca
  • Bogota, resumption on October 27
• Contour Airlines
  • Cape Girardeau, from October 1
  • Fort Leonard Wood, from October 2nd
• Spirit Airlines
  • Detroit, from August 14
• United Airlines (one of the airport’s busiest airlines)
  • Delhi, resumption on 29 March 2025
  • Knoxville, starting August 19
• Volaris
  • Monterrey, from November 3

Photo: EQRoy | Shutterstock

Air New Zealand stopped direct traffic to Auckland Airport due to maintenance problems with Rolls-Royce engines on the Boeing 787. The service, which once connected Chicago’s airport with all six inhabited continents, is scheduled to resume at the end of 2025.

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