slip and turn
7th Oct 2007, 10:33
I promised a guy who looked like he knew better but didn't admit it that I would write a reminder about ensuring airstairs were correctly positioned and stabilised before clearing them for passenger use.
A couple of times recently at Stansted I have come across rear airstairs that wobble too much.
On this last occasion I stopped and had a good look at it before I reported it with inconclusive results. Anyway this is what I found:
1. The front wheels had been left at an angle to the fuselage of up to about 40 degrees.
2. One of the front jacks looked like it might just be taking some weight, the other had been left within about 10-20mm and as I looked down from the top of the wobbly stairs I could see the concrete moving behind it.
As those who know, know, this is just indicative of laziness. I didn't make any such observation when I spoke to our friend at Stansted, but I made it plain what I thought was wrong with the airstairs that day, and that it wasn't safe enough.
The gap between the top and the fuselage was a little wrong too, but had the airstairs been stable, then that might have not been worth mentioning here.
The reaction I got at Stansted incidentally was one of plain denial, which is why I have brought it here.
A couple of times recently at Stansted I have come across rear airstairs that wobble too much.
On this last occasion I stopped and had a good look at it before I reported it with inconclusive results. Anyway this is what I found:
1. The front wheels had been left at an angle to the fuselage of up to about 40 degrees.
2. One of the front jacks looked like it might just be taking some weight, the other had been left within about 10-20mm and as I looked down from the top of the wobbly stairs I could see the concrete moving behind it.
As those who know, know, this is just indicative of laziness. I didn't make any such observation when I spoke to our friend at Stansted, but I made it plain what I thought was wrong with the airstairs that day, and that it wasn't safe enough.
The gap between the top and the fuselage was a little wrong too, but had the airstairs been stable, then that might have not been worth mentioning here.
The reaction I got at Stansted incidentally was one of plain denial, which is why I have brought it here.