Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

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PHXPhlyer
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Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#1 Post by PHXPhlyer » Sun Jan 01, 2023 3:31 pm

Baggage Handler Tragically Sucked Into Engine Of American Airlines Airplane

https://simpleflying.com/baggage-handle ... -accident/

A baggage handler at Montgomery Regional Airport was killed after being sucked into the engine of an American Airlines regional aircraft. The airport shut down for several hours after the accident as the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board launch an investigation.

Baggage handler dies after engine tragedy
While details about the accident are still sparse, Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM) has confirmed that a Piedmont Airlines (a subsidiary of American Airlines) ground crew employee was killed after an "industrial accident." The Washington Examiner reports that the individual, believed to be a baggage handler, died after they were sucked into an engine of an American Airlines plane.

Piedmont Airlines said,

"Today a Piedmont Airlines team member was involved in a fatal accident at Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM). Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleague's family and friends. We have mobilized our CARE team to provide support to our colleague's family, friends and co-workers."

The tragic accident happened at around 15:00 on Saturday, December 31st as Flight AA3408 from Montgomery to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) waited at the gate. The aircraft, an Embraer ERJ-175LR operated by AA subsidiary Envoy Air, was scheduled to depart MGM at 15:46 - the flight was understandably canceled and the airport closed for several hours before reopening on Saturday evening at around 20:30.


Wade A. Davis, Executive Director of MGM, added,

"We are saddened to hear about the tragic loss of a team member of the AA/Piedmont Airlines. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time."

Investigation opened
Both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched an investigation into the accident. At this early stage, it's unclear who was at fault for the tragedy - a report by Reuters claims that two people briefed on the investigation said "the employee was killed in an accident involving one of the airplane's engines that was running."

Ground accidents are very rare but unfortunately do happen - as Simple Flying reported in August, a Russian airport worker was killed by an Antonov An-24 propeller operated by UTair. Another tragic accident in the US also occurred in August - a baggage handler at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was killed while unloading baggage from a Frontier Airlines flight after her hair got stuck in the machinery of a belt loader.

Envoy Air Embraer ERJ-175LR
The plane involved in the accident is a four-year-old Envoy Air Embraer ERJ-175LR (registration: N264NN). The aircraft remains on the ground after the accident.

American Airlines, the owner of Envoy Air and Piedmont Airlines, said,

"[We are] devastated by the accident involving a team member. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and our local team members. We are focused on ensuring that all involved have the support they need during this difficult time."

PP

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#2 Post by tango15 » Sun Jan 01, 2023 4:59 pm

Having been a ramp-rat on a number of occasions, it really isn't that difficult to stay out of the way of running engines, even on pushback. It's just common sense.
I was horrified to read this comment, though how much truth there is in such a comment is open to question. Simon's pages seem to attract some rather strange comments!

Believe it or not, AAY ground handlers play a game where they get close enough to a running engine to start feeling the pull.
I grabbed one once and said: "Are you F-ing nuts"??? No one else seemed to have a problem with that practice. Very bizarre!

Very dangerous airline. It's tragic what happened, but I hope he wasn't fooling around and lost. The result id the same though.


If that really is common practice, it needs to be stamped out immediately, especially in the land which introduced the whole health and safety bonanza to the rest of the world.

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#3 Post by Woody » Sun Jan 01, 2023 5:25 pm

If anyone tried that game at BA they’d have a very short career, approaching any aircraft with engines running is a complete no. Undoubtedly we’ll all be getting emails reminding of the correct process in the next few days.
When all else fails, read the instructions.

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#4 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Sun Jan 01, 2023 5:39 pm

There was an RAF accident which I used to include on the Flight Safety video for new arrivals at Coningsby.
The FLM was in a relatively safe area, but was wearing a big coat that he had unzipped.
The extra area of the unzipped coat caused him to be sucked in, fatally.
Perhaps that was a contributory factor here, with the coat being unzipped due to the handler getting hot because of the work rate.
The safe areas are determined on normal human area, not increased areas due to unzipped coats, handling light objects with a large surface area, etc.

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#5 Post by CharlieOneSix » Sun Jan 01, 2023 5:51 pm

This is an old video of a US Navy incident where the guy who was sucked into the engine survived:
The helicopter pilots' mantra: If it hasn't gone wrong then it's just about to...
https://www.glenbervie-weather.org

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#6 Post by tango15 » Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:36 pm

I remember being shown that at the first dispatcher intro course I did. A stark reminder of how quickly it can happen,

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#7 Post by Woody » Sun Jan 01, 2023 8:10 pm

tango15 wrote:
Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:36 pm
I remember being shown that at the first dispatcher intro course I did. A stark reminder of how quickly it can happen,
That video is almost compulsory for anyone who works on the ramp at any aviation facility and it’s a hell of a lot more palatable than the photos of the aftermath of the fatalities caused by engine ingestion.
When all else fails, read the instructions.

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#8 Post by tango15 » Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:36 pm

Woody wrote:
Sun Jan 01, 2023 8:10 pm
tango15 wrote:
Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:36 pm
I remember being shown that at the first dispatcher intro course I did. A stark reminder of how quickly it can happen,
That video is almost compulsory for anyone who works on the ramp at any aviation facility and it’s a hell of a lot more palatable than the photos of the aftermath of the fatalities caused by engine ingestion.
:-bd

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#9 Post by Rwy in Sight » Mon Jan 02, 2023 5:37 pm

tango15 wrote:
Sun Jan 01, 2023 4:59 pm
Having been a ramp-rat on a number of occasions, it really isn't that difficult to stay out of the way of running engines, even on pushback. It's just common sense.
I was horrified to read this comment, though how much truth there is in such a comment is open to question. Simon's pages seem to attract some rather strange comments!

Believe it or not, AAY ground handlers play a game where they get close enough to a running engine to start feeling the pull.
I grabbed one once and said: "Are you F-ing nuts"??? No one else seemed to have a problem with that practice. Very bizarre!

Very dangerous airline. It's tragic what happened, but I hope he wasn't fooling around and lost. The result id the same though.


If that really is common practice, it needs to be stamped out immediately, especially in the land which introduced the whole health and safety bonanza to the rest of the world.
t15, I would argue that being ramp-rat on a number of occasions makes you more careful than a person working there day in day out.

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#10 Post by 4mastacker » Mon Jan 02, 2023 9:40 pm

Woody said:
......approaching any aircraft with engines running is a complete no...
... and yet RAF stackers do "hot" refuels on helicopters in a multitude of locations. The guys and gals did (still do) a very professional job and I don't believe they have had any fatal accidents all the years they have been carrying out the task.
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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#11 Post by tango15 » Mon Jan 02, 2023 11:03 pm

Rwy in Sight wrote:
Mon Jan 02, 2023 5:37 pm
tango15 wrote:
Sun Jan 01, 2023 4:59 pm
Having been a ramp-rat on a number of occasions, it really isn't that difficult to stay out of the way of running engines, even on pushback. It's just common sense.
I was horrified to read this comment, though how much truth there is in such a comment is open to question. Simon's pages seem to attract some rather strange comments!

Believe it or not, AAY ground handlers play a game where they get close enough to a running engine to start feeling the pull.
I grabbed one once and said: "Are you F-ing nuts"??? No one else seemed to have a problem with that practice. Very bizarre!

Very dangerous airline. It's tragic what happened, but I hope he wasn't fooling around and lost. The result id the same though.


If that really is common practice, it needs to be stamped out immediately, especially in the land which introduced the whole health and safety bonanza to the rest of the world.
t15, I would argue that being ramp-rat on a number of occasions makes you more careful than a person working there day in day out.
Bad grammar on my part. What I meant was that I have been a ramp rat on three separate occasions: for 18 months at MAN, 6 months at Luton, and 9 at EMA. So doing the job on a continuous basis, but with gaps in between. I never became complacent though, and neither, to the best of my knowledge, did any of my colleagues. Even an ATR 42 is lethal when you're just two metres away from it!

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#12 Post by Boac » Tue Jan 03, 2023 9:37 am

Woody wrote:If anyone tried that game at BA they’d have a very short career, approaching any aircraft with engines running is a complete no. Undoubtedly we’ll all be getting emails reminding of the correct process in the next few days.
Woody - have you ever handled an arriving a/c with a u/s APU?

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#13 Post by Woody » Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:32 am

Boac wrote:
Tue Jan 03, 2023 9:37 am
Woody wrote:If anyone tried that game at BA they’d have a very short career, approaching any aircraft with engines running is a complete no. Undoubtedly we’ll all be getting emails reminding of the correct process in the next few days.
Woody - have you ever handled an arriving a/c with a u/s APU?
I have, but only specifically trained staff are allowed to approach the aircraft for this process, AFAIK all the BA fleet have ground power connections around the nose wheel, so well away from the danger zone.
When all else fails, read the instructions.

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#14 Post by Boac » Tue Jan 03, 2023 11:15 am

Indeed they have, but it was your 'blanket ban' I was querying. The connection point is NOT outside the dream sheet '10m' exclusion zone for wing-mounted engines.

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#15 Post by k3k3 » Tue Jan 03, 2023 1:51 pm

Long time ago when Alidair used to deliver the Scottish Daily Express from Manchester to Lossiemouth, I was working in VASF handling their aircraft, Viscounts various.
On the 700 series the gound power socket is on the centreline of the fuselage about a foot behind the plane of the propellers, I didn't like connecting and disconnecting that in the rain and dark and wind...

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#16 Post by ExSp33db1rd » Wed Jan 04, 2023 5:29 am

.......have you ever handled an arriving a/c with a u/s APU?
Aircraft arrived at Nairobi with a u/s APU. But we had already accepted that to reach Europe with the incoming aircraft we would have to make an unscheduled re-fuelling stop at Dar es Salaam, 'cos the aircraft had been despatched from Rome too late to arrive at NBO before more than half the runway would soon become unuseable for departure due scheduled repair work starting at 06.00 local time ! Local staff refused to delay runway work 15 minutes to enable us to use the full length and so load flight plan fuel, and so we couldn't meet an acceptable take-off weight with enough fuel for the return Europe trip, so had to do with just enough fuel to make DAR (plus alternate ? forgotten ) and departed. On arrival DAR advised that the local starter was not working!

Not allowed to refuel with pax. on board, so offloaded some 150 pax into a hot, equatorial terminal building capable of holding 50, and kept engine No. 2 going whilst we refuelled the Stbd. wing tanks, then started eng. No. 3, stopped No. 2 and refuelled the Port side and fuselage tank.

A pax. subsequently remarked to me that " It's days like this that keep you chaps going, isn't it" I replied " it's days like this that I can do without"

Not sure what the DAR staff did to avoid anyone getting sucked into an engine, not my problem ! ( tho' doubtless it would have been had anyone been injured! )

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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#17 Post by TheGreenAnger » Tue Jan 24, 2023 6:10 pm

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its preliminary report into an incident involving Envoy Air flight ENY3408 at Montgomery Regional Airport, Alabama on December 31, 2022.

The incident resulted in the death of a ground worker who was pulled into the engine of Embraer E175, N264NN (c/n 17000765), while it was parked at the gate with one engine running.

According to the report, "the flight crew reported that after an uneventful flight, they elected to leave both engines running for the required two-minute engine cool down period." The aircraft’s auxiliary power unit (APU) was inoperative during the incident flight. As the narrowbody approached the gate, "three ramp agents were present, but clear of the safety area."

The captain gave the hand signal to connect the jet to ground power and as he was shutting down the number two (right) engine, the "DOOR CRG FWD OPEN" message appeared on one of the flight deck screens, signalling that the forward cargo door had opened. The first officer (FO) opened his cockpit window to inform the ramp agent that the engines were still operating.

However, immediately thereafter, “he saw a warning light illuminate and the aircraft shook violently, followed by the immediate automatic shutdown of the number one engine”. The captain was unsure what had occurred, so he extinguished the emergency lights and shut off both batteries before leaving the flight deck to investigate.

How the incident unfolded
Recorded video surveillance captured the accident sequence and showed the aircraft being marshalled to the gate. After the nose wheel was chocked, the ramp agent marshalling the jet, walked towards the forward cargo door located at the front of the aircraft on the right-hand side.

Simultaneously, another ramp agent appeared walking towards the back of the twinjet carrying an orange safety cone, where she disappeared from view. A third ramp agent located near the right wing tip could be seen gesturing with his hand towards the back of the aircraft.

Meanwhile, a fourth ramp agent knelt near the aircraft’s nose wheel. The ramp agent from the back of the aircraft reappeared and began walking towards the left wing tip, where she disappeared from the camera's field of view. The marshaller could be seen backing away from the jet’s open forward cargo door and the ramp agent carrying the cone reappeared walking along the leading edge of the left wing and directly in front of the number one engine. She was subsequently pulled off her feet and into the operating engine.

The ground crew reported that "a safety briefing was held about ten minutes before the airplane arrived at the gate" and "a second safety ‘huddle’ was held shortly before the airplane arrived at the gate, to reiterate that the engines would remain running until ground power was connected." The report also states that "it was also discussed that the airplane should not be approached, and the diamond of safety cones should not be set until the engines were off, spooled down, and the airplane’s rotating beacon light had been extinguished by the flight crew."

The 63 passengers and crew onboard were uninjured, however, the report states that "one ramp personnel was fatally injured." The NTSB is currently investigating the incident in order to determine the cause of the accident and to prevent similar events from happening in the future.
https://www.key.aero/article/ntsb-relea ... ogged_in=1
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Re: Ramper Killed at Montgomery, AL Airport

#18 Post by Boac » Tue Jan 24, 2023 7:18 pm

Sad, but inevitable if you ignore the safety aspects.

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