Originally Posted by
ALAEA Fed Sec
You either didn't read or didn't understand my post. You can push the aircraft around at 1 inch an hour and not guarantee a collision. Your chances increase as speed does. An Engineer is in nearly all cases going to be vastly more experienced than a baggage handler and the likelihood of a collision will reduce dramatically. For this function, an Engineer is not as fallible as the next human being.
I am intrigued with some of the assertions made here, and fail to understand why it has become the domain of a LAME to be able to move aircraft better than anyone else. Coming from a carrier background where aircraft are moved around with inches to spare on a pitching, moving deck at night by junior ratings with proper training and then given the responsibility due: none of
them were engineers!
ISTM that there is a degree of job preservation going on here by those whose profession is to maintain the machines: not move them around the tarmac. Maybe a proper result would be to make the rampy's job one that is properly recognised and duly rewarded? After all, they are responsible for moving multi million $$$ assets.
Although I drive helicopters I was averaging 6 movements a day into and out of QF at YMML, so I was quite familiar with the way it is (or was) done!