The Colorado Springs Fire Department said a crane operator died after being trapped in equipment at a construction site near the city’s airport Tuesday morning.

According to fire officials, heavy rescue crews began performing a recovery operation around 8:30 a.m. near the Northrop Grumman aerospace building, located by the intersection of Peak Innovation Parkway and Embraer Heights.

The operator’s body was recovered around 2 p.m. after a “complex” recovery effort by fire crews. Firefighters credited other crane operators at the site with aiding in the effort.

The incident happened at the construction site for Forge at Peak Innovation Park, just south of the Colorado Springs Airport. The park broke ground in January and will primarily host aerospace and defense companies, according to previous reporting by The Gazette.

It is unclear how the operator was trapped on Tuesday, but Fire Department officials could not say whether the crane experienced failure, leaving that determination to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The Fire Department anticipated its crews would be cleared from the scene later Tuesday afternoon, although OSHA officials may remain longer as they continue their investigation.

A final determination on what caused the incident will be determined by OSHA.

The El Paso County coroner was on scene and will later release the operator’s name and cause of death.

CSFD’s spokesperson, who has been in the role for around four years, told The Gazette she could not recall any other incident involving a crane in her time with the department. Although they are uncommon, CSFD trains “often” for this type of event.

The construction site where Tuesday’s entrapped incident occurred will eventually be home to a few hundred thousand square feet buildings across five acres in the Peak Innovation Park. The company leading the $63 million development project, the Minnesota-based Opus Group, hopes to construct more buildings over the 18 acres of land it owns south of the airport, according to previous Gazette reporting.

At the park’s groundbreaking, Mayor Yemi Mobolade described the project as “exactly” what the aerospace, defense and advanced manufacturing industries need while boasting its ability to create “high-paying and high-quality jobs.”