26-year-old Jermani Thompson, who worked as a baggage handler at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, has died following a freak accident in which her hair got caught in a belt loader, WVUE-DT reports.

The incident occurred late Tuesday night at around 10 p.m. on the apron, an area where the plane is parked and prepared for takeoff or landing, bags are loaded or unloaded, and the plane is refueled or maintained. According to Thompson’s employer, GAT Airline Ground Support, the former basketball player was working to offload a Frontier Airlines plane that had just landed. There, her hair got tangled in the machinery of a belt loader.

She was transported to Ochsner Medical Center — Kenner, where she was pronounced dead.

“We are heartbroken and are supporting her family and her friends as best as we are able,” Mike Hough, CEO of GAT Airline Ground Support, said in a statement, according to WVUE-DT. “Please send your well wishes to everyone at our New Orleans station during this very difficult time.”

Frontier Airlines also issued a statement about the tragic accident.

“We extend our deepest condolences following the tragic death of a team member of our ground handling business partner,” Frontier Airlines spokesperson Jennifer de la Cruz said in a statement, according to Nola.com. “Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Kevin Dolliole, the airport’s director of aviation, spoke out about Thompson’s passing as well.

“Jermani was a part of our airport family, and we will continue to support one another in any way we can during this trying time,” Dolliole said in a written statement, according to NBC News.

The 26-year-old’s mother, Angela Dorsey, said that her daughter was a graduate of Tougaloo College in Mississippi and loved playing basketball, Nola.com reports.

“She was my baby girl. Everybody loved her,” she told the outlet.

The pain Dorsey is in is indescribable.

“I’m just lost for words. I can’t even think,” the grieving mother said.