American Airlines Accident
It's Summer and it is holiday time, which means our airports are about to get that much busier. With demanding and often chaotic schedules, the safety of passengers and employees should be the most important consideration, but regrettably this isn’t always the case.
One recent example resulted in a worker of American Airlines having his leg amputated following a horrific incident based at Heathrow airport. The airline pleaded guilty and was fined £70,000 on the June 4th, 2010.
The case, which was heard at the Old Bailey, gave details of a ground worker named Kulwart Bhara who was preparing an aircraft for departure at Heathrow in November 2008. A 70-tonne tug had pulled the plane away from the departure gate and onto the runway. But, as Mr Bhara disconnected the tug from the plane, it reversed and knocked him to the ground. The vehicle then ran over his leg and, as a result, an amputation had to be carried out.
Shockingly, during the investigation it was found the tug had no reversing lights and no audible reversing alarm. Managing Director of Health and Safety specialists mhl support, Michael Slade, said “One of the main hazards for ground staff is vehicle movements, particularly at night. It is therefore a fundamental requirement that companies ensure all vehicles are properly fitted with reversing lights and audible alarms; a matter which American Airlines overlooked with disastrous consequences.
This situation could have been avoided if the airline had robust safe systems of work, enabling them to identify all main risks and hazards and then communicate these to the work-force.
mhl has a team of specialist and experienced advisers who are able to tell you more about these issues, provide suitable forms, systems, advice and electronic safe systems of work. If you are an existing client and require further guidance, please call one of the team today on 08453 100 999. If you are not an existing customer but are interested in learning more about the case or the services we provide, please call Katy Vaughan today on 08453 100 600.
