Disembarkation of pax without RAMP AGENT

[LEM]

Hi all. I'd like to know if it's a requirement to have somebody down the stair to disembark passengers.

Often, when the ramp agent is late or completely missing, we ask one of the Flight Attendants to go down and watch for the passengers as they climb onto the bus.

But, in fact, the FA is not supposed to perform this duty, and, should something happen, legally we might find ourselves in a world of s§it.

On the other hand, if I recall correctly, at various "serious" european airports it's normal to disembark with only the bus waiting downstairs. No ramp agent.

Thanks for your inputs.

LEM

[old,not bold]

Having myself seen, from 50m away, a passenger exit an F27 rear door without ground staff present, and then go to collect his bag from the trolley at the front door, walking through the still rotating prop which killed him very unpleasantly, I would recommend caution.

That and other similar incidents, years ago, led to the rules about guide tapes, trained staff and so on being in place before passengers disembark. As so often the rules are written in someone's blood, in this case plenty of it.

Jets don't have props for slicing passengers and ground staff, but they are just as dangerous at both ends (like a baby), for different reasons.

Incidentally, I saw someone trying to stop a very slowly turning prop only the other day, so that passengers could disembark from a t/prop. The very first time I saw that tried, the guy lost all his fingers (F27/Dart again), because even at a rotation speed which looks very slow, the tip speed can be over 100mph, and that particular prop had very sharp edges at the tip. (This is the moment for those who know the true meaning and value of Pi).

Do we never learn?