DAYTON — The Pinnacle Airlines employee killed at Dayton International Airport on Wednesday was a Northridge High School honor student who was planning to get married next year.
Catrina Coffman, 21, of Harrison Twp., was taken to Miami Valley Hospital after being injured trying to remove luggage caught in a small elevator lift about 7 a.m.
Coffman is a 2005 graduate from Northridge, where she was a cheerleader and a member of the JAGS club.
Her death remains under investigation by Dayton police and federal labor and safety investigators.
According to the Montgomery Coroner's Office, Coffman died as result of asphyxiation due to mechanical chest compression and blunt force injury to the torso.
A 911 call made to authorities at 7:28 a.m. indicated that half of Coffman's body was trapped by the elevator lift.
Whether an emergency-stop switch on the lift was used by Coffman or had malfunctioned was not known Thursday, airport spokeswoman Sharon Sears said.
"Everything about the operation and the equipment will be addressed by OSHA's investigation," Sears said.
The coroner has ruled Coffman's death an accident.
Pinnacle, which operates as Northwest Airlink, provides commuter services at Dayton International for Northwest Airlines.
The luggage-sized elevator lift is owned by the airport and used by Pinnacle in an area leased from Dayton International. It's located under the jetway — the long accordion-like walkway that passengers use to board airplanes.
In recent history, at least two other employees have died at the Dayton airport, Sears said.
A male employee of the Menlo Logistics Center died about 11/2 years ago after boxes of freight fell on him. More than a decade ago, a Trans World Airline employee died from injuries after an airline tire exploded.
Phil Reed, a spokesman for Pinnacle, could recall only one other employee death in the airline's 22-year history. Based in Memphis, Pinnacle Airlines Corp. has two operating subsidiaries — Pinnacle Airlines Inc. and Colgan Air Inc.
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