An explosion on Friday, December 27, 2019 at the Textron Aviation plant near Wichita, Kansas, injured nearly a dozen of the plant’s employees. Due to the holidays, the plant was operating with a reduced staff, which limited the number of injured. Eleven people, one with serious injuries, were taken to the hospital by emergency medical services.
The explosion occurred in a 3-inch liquid nitrogen gas line and also damaged a storage tank causing the gas to vent out of the building. There was also extensive damage to the Plant 3 building where the incident occurred.
Plant 3 was used for composite manufacturing and included the fabrication of the Cessna SkyCourier that was set to enter service this year. Textron stated that it was too early to determine the extent of the damage to the prototype of the design.