It must be distraction. I remember many years ago as a ground crew guy we used to have a Fairchild metro scheduled flight come in and like all the aircraft, they always used ground power until after engine start.
Guess where the plug-in was? On the engine nacelle behind the prop so we had to walk in front of the wing but behind the prop to unplug it. Strict paranoia is required in this situation when given the disconnect signal by the pilot. Walk far out toward the wingtip and then as approaching, I would keep one hand always on the leading edge of the wing as I approached to unplug and then walked back toward the wingtip as this meant that I was not within range of the prop arc. Then come back to drive the GPU away.
I don't remember any particular direction being given to us by the company on what specifically to do for the various aircraft hazards based on all different types, just a general briefing that there was a hazard and perhaps specifics about the most frequent aircraft serviced such as waiting 30 seconds after a CFM-56 engine shutdown before approaching. I was a licenced pilot at the time and well aware but there was no shortage of young newbies. You have to come up with your own plan for many situations. The first step in the plan is be paranoid.
In more recent times when removing chocks from aircraft such as a light aircraft that has been hand-propped with engine running, I am continuously saying to myself that the prop is running. I think we need to just pre-brief(or remind oneself) for a few seconds that if something goes wrong, such as the plug-in or chock cannot be removed then stop, perhaps carefully move out of the way and consider. And if something happens such as a backfire or aircraft starts moving what will we do. Keep your arms close to your body can be part of that self-briefing. That being said, finding an alternative to chocks near props is a good idea. Why have chocks in if the aircraft has a park brake and pilot on board.
In the Alaska case, it sounds like there may have been multiple airplanes with engines running. Is suspect that if it can happen to this guy, it can happen to any of us. Beware the unanticipated situations.
Last edited by JammedStab; 23rd Jul 2015 at 04:30.