Daily Telegraph
Engineer almost sucked into jet
By JIM DICKINS
19jul02
A VIRGIN Blue ground engineer came very close to "ingestion" by a 737 jet engine during a communications mix-up at Sydney airport earlier this month.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the incident, which occurred when a pilot released his brakes under direction from air traffic control, rolling 2m towards the engineer.
The engineer, distracted by an aircraft taxiing nearby, did not realise the jet had moved.
The blunder followed an incident on June 11 when a Virgin 737 pilot was demoted to co-pilot for six months after overshooting Darwin runway.
The aircraft remained within the runway-end safety zone and there were no injuries or damage. However, the pilot failed to report the incident within the company's strict time limit and was disciplined.
The bureau released its preliminary report on that incident yesterday, noting visibility was good at the time and winds were light.
However, the runway was undergoing maintenance, reducing the landing distance available.
A Virgin spokesman said the pilot was disciplined for failing to report the incident soon enough, rather than the incident itself.
"It didn't meet our standards, even if it met the statutory requirement," he said.
"It was within the 48-hour statutory limit but he should have reported it immediately."
The bureau confirmed it was also investigating a case of potential "ingestion" at Sydney airport on July 4.
Virgin's spokesman said that incident occurred when normal departure procedures were suspended by the arrival of an air ambulance.
Virgin was conducting its own investigation but did not believe the engineer was in danger of being sucked into the engine. "He was closer than we would have liked him to be, but not in the danger zone," the spokesman said.
The pilot had been distracted by instructions from air traffic control and did not know the engineer was in danger. And the engineer was watching out for the propellers of a third aircraft, also delayed by the air ambulance.
Virgin stressed no passengers were ever in danger, but said the incident supported its argument that its current terminal space at Sydney was overcrowded.
Virgin wants to be allowed to occupy the old Ansett terminal as soon as possible.
"After two years of excellent safety at the airport this demonstrates that the facility has reached its capacity," the spokesman said.
Surely another indication that procedures are lacking. And Virgin want to put loaders on the headsets, carry out airstarts/connect GPUs. God help 'em!
