Falling out of an aircraft at the gate

[llondel]

From a friend, caught by a delay at JFK on a flight to Boston.

A catering employee fell out of the plane's door (!!), taking out a ladder on his way down. The guy was taken away in an ambulance and the ladder dented the side of the plane. The dent is too big to fly.


I'm guessing this was a Jet Blue this morning, flight 1002? It's listed as cancelled, so it's the most obvious candidate. Anyone got more info? I'm trying to picture how it could have happened as described.

[ukdean]

What a :mad:. That will be on youtube later

[Rainboe]

There have been several incidences of crew falling out of aeroplanes. Open unguarded door- easy to do. Very serious, near fatal injuries that I know of. It's a long way to fall onto very hard concrete. Exactly what do you want to know? The door will be opened because equipment is coming, or removed and the door needs closing. You have to lean out to grab the door handle to pull. Easy to do by either ground staff or crew. I've even known a passenger run and open a door and jump out of a 747. Quite why was never established, but that was quite terminal. We even had a man in the WIndies drive through a fence in a truck, stop near the engine which had just been started, and jump into it, watched by horrified passengers. It boils down to accidents or mental imbalance.

[stepwilk]

Some years ago--like at least 25--a catering or line employee, don't remember which, fell out of a USAir BAC One-Eleven at LaGuardia and was killed. My friend Tom Block was the captain, so this isn't hearsay. As I remember, he stepped out onto what he assumed was a loading dolly (it was nighttime) and there was nothing there.

Stephan Wilkinson

[llondel]

I guess I'm trying to work out how he fell and managed to hit a ladder with sufficient force to topple it. I guess it depends on what was meant by 'ladder', because the equipment I see around aircraft in that category is designed not to fall. Hitting it that hard can't have been good for him either.

As an engineer I just go through the "what went wrong, why/how, and can it be easily prevented in the future?" exercise because safety-first thinking helps in the day job.

'Elf'n'Safety will have inflatable airbags below all open doors if they get to hear about it, regardless of how impractical it is on windy days.

[deltayankee]

There was also a fatal incident at Paris CDG a year or so ago when someone removed the stairs just as a flight attendant stepped out. Safety procedures were tightened up as a result.

[HZ123]

There still continue to be accidents of this nature several times a year. In our company the rule is that a jetty, steps or platform must always be in place. Just returned from Cyprus and a number of UK aircraft with the doors open and just the tape across. Such accidents will continue to happen?