Falling for a Flight Attendant

A large percentage of reportable incidents involve injuries sustained in unexpected encounters with inflight turbulence. Not unexpectedly, flight attendants (F/A’s) are the ones caught out more often than not when an aircraft hits unanticipated clear air turbulence. It’s just an operational hazard of their chosen career, perhaps. But here’s a different hazard that isn’t a perversity of Mother Nature –one that is potentially (and in fact proven to be) much more lethal. On 05 Oct last, an Air Transat  F/A became yet another statistic when ground-crew at Manchester UK pulled a set of stairs away without clearance and she fell a long way (30 odd feet) from her A330’s rear door to the tarmac. She broke an arm and a leg and faces a long period of recuperation. Past occurrences have included the deaths of victims caught out in similar circumstances. Some months ago an Air France 35 y.o. F/A fell to her death from an A320 at Orly (on 01 Feb 05). She was married with two children. Her accidental death triggered an expensive strike by two unions. The problem is an aged and ongoing one. A QANTAS flight steward leant against the retractable panel at the top of the mobile steps at the rear door of a 707 at Paya Lebar; the panel gave way and he fell backwards, plunging to his death. A Japanese F/A ran back up the mobile steps of a Convair 880 at Tokyo (Haneda) to quickly retrieve her handbag and then stepped out into dark space, the steps having been driven away.  At Manchester a BA girl fell from the rear door of a 737 and died later in hospital. Another similar BA 737 event occurred in Paris (CDG A/P) after the steps were driven away without notice. Another F/A fell 5m from a Thomas Cook 757 at Corfu on 03 Aug 04 breaking an arm, her pelvis and a leg. Pilots aren’t immune either. An EasyJet 737 captain was hurt at Edinburgh UK in a similar manner. And it’s not always via passenger boarding doors. Catering service doors have also been involved. It’s been suggested that Airbus doors, because they don’t swing around, are safer than Boeing doors. Most airline operators have had similar accidents so the “next step” is to come up with a human-proof fix that could be mandated and be one that would work at all ports of call. Obviously this would have to be centered on the aircraft, rather than the steps and stairs or vehicle…. although an ignition interlock for the vehicle, once in position, is a favored solution.

Suggested solutions have included a retractable strap that would require that connecting frangible strap to be removed from the aircraft before the steps were driven away – and an alarm that would sound if it wasn’t done (and the strap broke). That would be a similar precaution to having to remove a girt bar to avoid blowing a slide-chute.

The small tripping lip and slippery sill at floor-level also gets a mention as adding to the danger for door-closers. Some aircraft have a door safety strap or retractable tape that can cover the opening when the steps (or a jetty) aren’t present, but they aren’t attention-getting - nor are they able to stop a determined step into space. So perhaps a plastic net could be drawn across the opening? Then again, if the steps are drive-away, perhaps the vehicle keys could be compulsorily handed to a cabin crew member until required, thus installing another layer of safety. This hazard is addressed in the UK CAA’s CAP 642 'Airside Safety Management' and should be covered in any UK operator's turnaround plan – as required under HSE document HSG209 (Health & Safety Executive). The Canadian equivalent is CAR standard 725.40 (Commercial Air Service Standards)’

However this ongoing hazard with open doors appears to have been totally bypassed by technology, particularly for doors that require a person to lean out of the aircraft to achieve closure. Some aircraft have motorized door closure to avoid this exposure (DC-10, MD-11, L-1011, 767). If you wander around any airport, you will see doors open with no stairs in place. Sometimes it’s done to just “let a little air in”. You have to wonder whether any such airport has a safety officer with a roving commission.

There are hazards enough on the ramp for aircrews and groundcrews alike. Last year a Crossair captain was killed by a rampaging baggage truck. Ingestion into running engines and fatal involvement with moving props are the classics and seem to be insoluble. Drop-out ground-crew have a turn-key solution available to them (see www.aircraft-fall-protection.com ) but F/A’s appear to have been left “out on a limb”. In a surprising revelation however, the US Assn of Flight Attendants (www.afanet.org) in a 19 Sep 05 Health & Safety (OSHA) complaint filing against Federal Agencies, doesn’t seem to have identified this falling risk as a health hazard (in a very specific list of hazards in their log of claims). Perhaps that problem has already been resolved in the US by having only ground-crew open and shut doors?

But if anyone can come up with a lasting solution to this F/A killer, he/she is sure to be top of the pops with F/A’s the world over, particularly with those aspiring to the heights of the A380.

A Canadian TSB investigation (A99A0046) into a 767-200 exemplar accident, involving a child and a defective stair locking mechanism, can be read here:

A Flight Safety Foundation Study on F/A Slips, Trips and Falls may be accessed at: this link