Police investigating Austin airport's second work-related death as accidental, officials say

Austin police are investigating the death of a city employee at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport last month — the second work-related death at the city-owned airport this year — as an accidental death, according to the Austin Police Department.

On the morning of Oct. 31, the employee was fatally struck by a fuel storage vehicle near the western end of Barbara Jordan Terminal, a secured area where airlines park. In a written statement to the American-Statesman Monday, police identified the employee as Michael Wills, 68.

The circumstances of the crash remain unclear. Austin police and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating. Austin police declined to answer further questions, citing the ongoing investigation.

"Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) mourns the loss of Michael 'Mike' Wills. Mike was a valued Department of Aviation team member," wrote Sam Haynes, an airport spokesperson, in a statement to the Statesman. "Mike will be forever cherished as an outstanding coworker and friend and we ask the community to keep his family, loved ones and colleagues in their thoughts."

More on this year's accidents at ABIA: OSHA ends investigation of on-duty death of American Airlines employee at Austin airport

Michael Wills owned Cedar Park photography company

Wills had worked at the Austin airport before he was rehired in August, according to employment records obtained by the Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act. That month, he posted to his public LinkedIn account, "About to restart a unique job with the City of Austin, TX … looking forward to beautiful (skies) and loud aircraft!"

FlySpecsUAS, a Cedar Park-based aerial photography company, lists Wills as its owner and manager. In a bio on the company's website, Wills detailed his childhood fascination with the space race and NASA while growing up in Palo Alto, California.

Wills said he moved to Austin because it has the "best average weather" in all of Texas — a must for aerial photography, which often employs the use of camera-equipped drones. Describing his approach, he wrote, "I am of a creative mindset looking at the light in life."

"It is all about the light, the angle, the intensity, the color(s) and the movement," his bio continues. "A drone is a flying camera, or sensor or combination of both. Data, quality data is the goal when using any kind of ... flying, maybe autonomous single or multi-rotor fixed or adjustable wing with sensors attached. The knowledge, skill, when, why and how of flying and obtaining that 'data' is all I do, because I can."

A member of Wills' family was unavailable for comment.

Austin city manager directs airport leader to review safety programs

The crash involved a fuel storage vehicle and a Chevrolet pickup, according to a heavily redacted police report obtained by the Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act. Austin police had redacted Wills' name from the report.

Photos obtained by the Statesman last week show the fuel storage vehicle bore the logo of Menzies Aviation, a U.K.-based company also linked to the airport's first work-related death this year, on the tanker's side. Menzies Aviation is one of more than a dozen companies conducting ground service operations at the airport.

In a memo to Austin City Council members published online Monday, interim City Manager Jesús Garza said the city would support the investigation by Austin police and OSHA, adding that "given that this is an open investigation, we do not have additional details to provide at this time."

In the Nov. 3 memo, Garza told the City Council he asked the airport's interim director, Jim Smith, to review the airport's safety programs to "help identify what elements of the airport enterprise is specifically under the City’s purview, the initiatives currently underway by the (Aviation) Department to support safety at the airport, and how we can influence safety measures outside of the City’s direct control."

"The safety of passengers and all staff working at the airport is unequivocally the highest priority for the Department of Aviation," Garza wrote.

The fatal Oct. 31 incident comes after a number of near-misses between landing and departing aircraft at the Austin airport have garnered national attention. Garza said city staff will provide the City Council with an overview of those issues this week.

Staff writer Tony Plohetski contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Police investigating second workplace death at Austin airport