An August 2024 accident in which two aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs) were killed, and a third injured, when a tire burst inside a commercial airline maintenance hangar highlights the risks involved in even seemingly routine ground operations.
According to a VanAllen Group study, ground incidents are by far the leading cause of damage to business aircraft, with “hangar rash” most likely to occur over aircraft towing, taxiing and ground handling incidents. While such incidents are seldom fatal, such damage is often very expensive and may also result in serious injury.
In fact, 48% of respondents to a 2019 NBAA Safety Survey reported experiencing between 1-3 ground incidents, or “close calls” during the preceding three years. One way to reduce those risks is a comprehensive program that should also include a continually evolving safety management system, or SMS.
Patrick Moylan, chief safety and quality officer for West Star Aviation, said his company holds regular safety meetings throughout their maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities to identify areas for improvement, which in turn drive corporate safety initiatives.
“We have 3,000 people out there every single day who are intimately familiar with the hazards and opportunities for improvement in the workplace,” Moylan said. “We have an established reporting system and we ensure there is always prompt and consistent follow-up to those reports. This has helped to foster a positive reporting culture and employee engagement in safety.”
“The ramp is an environment more prone to what I call willful non-compliance.”
Len Beauchemin Founder, Managing Director, AeroTechna Solutions
Working on an airport ramp, often in response to an aircraft-on-ground (AOG) situation, introduces additional challenges related to weather, tools and equipment. Len Beauchemin, founder and managing director of AeroTechna Solutions, said the more dynamic environment furthers the opportunity for non-conformance or quality escapes to occur.
“The ramp is an environment more prone to what I call willful non-compliance,” Beauchemin said. “AMTs know the correct procedure to follow when working inside the MRO facility, but their desire to fix an AOG may impair their judgment in completing the necessary steps.”
“If your safety department has not built a culture of trust, you have absolutely nothing.”
Tim Wade Flexjet Director for Environmental, Health and Safety Programs
In all these scenarios, the importance and efficacy of a company-wide, just, safety culture cannot be overstated, said Tim Wade, director for environmental, health and safety programs at Flexjet.
“It’s not your manual, it’s not your procedures, it’s not your training,” Wade said. “Anybody can write an SMS manual or pull a PowerPoint from a website. If your safety department has not built a culture of trust, you have absolutely nothing.”
Review NBAA resources on hangar and ground safety at nbaa.org/hangar-safety.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.