deicer hits plane
 

Saw a Flybe aircraft in SOU today, it had been hit by the de-icing van - left a pretty big dent in the side of the aircraft. it had pax on too.

This might be a world-shattering event in Southampton but such events are incredibly common in the rest of the world.

Have to say that despite it being a regular occurence, this one felt particularly hard. A reasonable amount of damage done, to the point that so far, it is not flyable to a hangar able to deal with it. Bombardier are still thinking on it!

Was the deicer checked for D ice C
 

Was it a runaway truck or a very big accident.????

I am led to believe it was a slipped foot at a very critical moment. Very embarrassing for the driver me thinks.

didnt see the reg of the van, but apparently the guy who did it was a long serving employee and will automatically lose his job

Why should the guy who did it automatically lose his job??
Accidents happen all the time and if aircrew got the sack everytime they cocked up, we would be really short on drivers!!!

Seriously, a policy like that only encourages anyone who accidently damages an aicraft in the course of their job to try and cover it up rather than come clean.

Each incident should be treated on its merits and staff should always be treated fairly. That way all accidents will be reported however small.

Coop & Bear

i agree - i think its a shame he will lose his job, but thats what the despatcher said.

Coopervane
Correct, but if it was a "mistake" then surely a no blame culture would stop a loader / deicer / Caterer trying to avoid detection with the possible fatal consequences of such a decision :\

I really do hope that mately boy with the loose foot doesn't loose his job. This is the arsesolic reaction from duckwits in HR when an expensive mistake has been made. It is vital that when employees make a mistake they own up to it. I for one want to hear that somebody has driven into my prop or whatever. Sacking people for being human makes it so that genuine errors are hidden and are only discovered later inside the smoking hole in the ground.

Excuse my ignorance here, but surely unless it can be proved that the individual concerned deliberately rammed into said plane, then i don't really see how he/she can be sacked on the spot. Part of being human is that mistakes and accidents will naturally occur from time to time. Surely the person concerned could appeal... unless his/her contract clearly states 'driving a de-icing rig into a q400 is considered gross misconduct and will result in employment termination'. Unlikely methinks. JW411 says 'such events are incredibly common in the rest of the world'... makes you wonder if this is particularly high demand for drivers if the actions of those in SOU is anything to go by!!

The driver has been suspended on full pay whilst the investigation takes place. The investigation is normally held in conjunction with the customer, covering all aspects including vehicle maintenance (although the rig in question is apparently only months old), ramp contamination, driver training etc etc. A multitude of factors could have caused this incident.

That's why god invented insurance to cover any losses.

Thats odd, spoken to ground crew today and at least two independant people have said he is still on shift but keeping a sheepish profile. Poor sod. I think we maybe getting confused with having his airside driving licence removed until enquiry. But I maybe wrong!

So far, not one negative post on this - very good to see. Let's hope the driver can draw some comfort from that.

Is this the Q400 that is sitting next to the hangar at the Northern end? I saw it from the train yesterday and wondered why it was parked there.

One for the rubberneckers, wonder no more.........;)
http://photobucket.com/albums/c96/ma...t=DSCN1277.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/c96/ma...t=DSCN1275.jpg

A/c struck between aft service door and rear pressure bulkhead. Damage; 2 skin punctures, 3 frames and 7 stringers apparently.

Ouch! :eek:

So it might, but some of us look to R&N for news such as this. Each to their own, JW... :hmm:

It may be a common thing - aircraft being damaged by ground equipement, but it shouldnt happen... Poor training and judgement play a very large part in this problem, mechanical making up the remainder. People really must be confident, aware and on the ball when working around aircraft no matter what their task is. Reporting any incident should be of the highest priority.

methinks the despatcher should stick to despatching as he obviously knows little about employment law.