Veteran Logan worker dies in tarmac accident

A longtime Delta Air Lines ground worker at Logan Airport died yesterday when he was run over by a 25-ton truck driven by a friend, investigators and co-workers said.

Henry F. Marshall Jr., 43, a father of two children and a lifelong Malden resident, was walking across the ramp area outside Gate 21 in Delta's Terminal C around 6:45 a.m. when he was struck and dragged an estimated 75 feet. Marshall was declared dead at the scene.

Investigators refused to comment on how the accident may have occurred, though workers said Marshall had stepped into the path of the truck as it was moving away from the terminal. Investigators are looking into whether the gloomy, rainy conditions yesterday morning contributed to the accident. State Police detectives from the Suffolk district attorney's office, along with investigators from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, were on the scene yesterday.

David Procopio, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, said that while the investigation is not complete, the evidence indicates no criminal charges are warranted.

"At this point, the facts suggest that this was a horrible, horrible accident," Procopio said. "We'll make the ultimate determination once the investigation is complete, including accident reconstruction."

OSHA spokesman John Chavez said the agency is prohibited from commenting on an open investigation.

Rich Cordell, Delta's senior vice president of airport customer service, issued a statement saying the airline is cooperating with the investigation while tending to the needs of Marshall's family and friends.

Marshall had worked as a ground services worker, or ramp rat, for 14 years at Logan, leaving Boston once to work the tarmac in Myrtle Beach, S.C., for several years before returning home, friends said.

The de-icing truck, which is used to spray the wings of airplanes to prevent ice buildup in cold weather, was driven by John Newcomb, a fellow Delta employee and a longtime friend and co-worker of Marshall's, said fellow workers who declined to give their names.

Newcomb was hospitalized yesterday after suffering severe stress from the incident, said Paul Klemm, a friend of Marshall's who said he was one of the first to tell Marshall's wife, Judy, what had happened.

Klemm said that one of her first concerns was for Newcomb. Klemm, who was at the Marshall home yesterday along with family members, clergy, and State Police, said the fatality was a "freak accident."

"There's absolutely no finger-pointing," he said. "This is just a terrible accident."

Besides his wife, Marshall leaves his 12-year-old son, Patrick, and his 7-year-old daughter, Kelley.

Marshall "was a great friend, a great husband and father, and highly regarded in Malden," Klemm said. "Mention his name, and it opens a lot of doors in this city. Everybody loved him."

Airport ground workers around Terminal C quietly walked back and forth from secure back rooms to the terminal's food court for coffee and lunch yesterday, visibly shaken by the event. Delta made grief counselors available to all employees.

"I work for Continental, and I'd like to tell you we're all devastated," said one ground worker, who declined to give her name.

Others said that while the airport, run by the Massachusetts Port Authority, has a safe record on the tarmac, finding ample room on the airport's apron is rare.

"Logan is a place that's congested," said a ground worker for another airline who asked not to be named. "It's very safe, but space is limited out there, and it just makes things tighter."

The last ground worker killed at Logan was a cargo company employee who died when a 2,000-pound crate fell on his head in January 2000.

According to a July 2002 report by the US Department of Transportation, 11 ground workers died nationwide between 1985 and 2000 after being struck by vehicles on airport aprons. Of the 11 deaths, only two occurred between 1995 and 2000, the report said.

"Increased emphasis by the airline industry and airports could be a contributing factor to the decline in 'struck by' injuries," said the report, which examined whether reflective vests could enhance safety for ground workers.

The report was inconclusive about whether high-visibility clothing would have prevented any of the accidents.

The report said that lighting conditions may have been a factor in six of the fatal accidents, while five workers were killed by a vehicle backing up.

Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.