Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

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kevinsky18
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Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by kevinsky18 »

Saw a brief mention of this on CBC. Anyone know any more details?
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ch135146
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by ch135146 »

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Yello ... story.html

"EDMONTON - A 28-year-old man is in Edmonton hospital with serious injuries after he was struck by the propeller of a plane while working on the tarmac Monday evening at the Yellowknife Airport, RCMP say.

The Yellowknife man, an employee of a domestic airline, was working as part of a ground crew for the arrival of a commercial plane when he was struck around 8:20 p.m.

The man was taken to Stanton Territorial Hospital before he was airlifted to hospital in Edmonton. The man’s name was not released and the extent of his injuries remains unknown. The Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident with the assistance of Yellowknife RCMP."
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Donald
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by Donald »

From AvHerald:
A Canadian North de Havilland Dash 8-100, registration C-GECN performing flight 5T-478 from Cambridge Bay,NU to Yellowknife,NT (Canada) with 17 people on board, had safely landed and was being marshalled into parking spot 9 on the main apron. After the aircraft had stopped, the left engine was shut down and the right hand propeller was feathered. The marshaller moved from the nose of the aircraft towards the right main gear with the wheel chocks in his hand but was struck by the right hand propeller and received serious injuries. The flight attendant provided first aid, emergency services responded within a minute.

The Canadian TSB reported the marshaller received serious injuries but was stable enough for a MEDEVAC transportation to Edmonton,AB.
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Redneck_pilot86
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by Redneck_pilot86 »

To everyone in YK: SLOW DOWN. Take the extra few seconds to think about what you are about to do, no one wants another year like the last one.
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ch135146
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by ch135146 »

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/sto ... rike.html

"Updated":

A 28-year-old Yellowknife man is in critical condition in an Edmonton hospital after being struck by the propeller of a plane Monday night at the Yellowknife airport.

The man was taken to Stanton Territorial Hospital and later medevaced to Edmonton. The victim's name has not been released.

"I don't have a current update on his status," said Tracy Medve, who is the president of the Canadian North airline where the man works.

"His family is currently in Edmonton with him," she added.

The man was working as ground crew on the arrival of a Canadian North Dash-8 plane coming from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. The employee, who was new at the airline, approached the plane and was struck by a propeller.

The incident took place about half an hour after power was cut to Yellowknife when a military helicopter hit power lines near the city.

At the time of the accident, the airport was running on emergency power. Airport officials say the outage considerably cut the amount of light on the tarmac and on the ramp.

"This is something that has never happened while I've been here," said Steve Loutitt, the Yellowknife Airport manager. He has worked at the airport for 25 years.

The Transportation Safety Board and the RCMP are investigating.
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FastFlyBy
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by FastFlyBy »

When I worked the ramp at YVR this exact scenario played out in front of a buddy of mine. Our co-worker was placing the step under the airstairs and stepped back into the just feathered prop. The guy at YVR was lucky, the prop hit his ear protectors knocking them off and knocking him out cold. He was okay.

Its all about a safety oriented mindset and safe work procedures, something that is very often lacking on the ramp surprisingly. Having worked multiple ramp positions for multiple carriers at various airports, I can attest to the fact that very often its all about getting the job done and getting the aircraft turned around quickly at the expense of safety and common sense. I don't know anything about this operator was or what the mindset or attitude is on the ramp where this happened so this is not in any way an accusation, but I have seen and worked in places where there was next to no training on the ramp. I almost felt in some of those instances that the attitude was "He knows he's working beside a spinning 13 foot propeller he'll be careful, he's not an idiot."

Well I sincerely hope that this guy is just as lucky as my co-worker. No ill thoughts towards anyone working hard on the ramp, but to all the operators out there, develop a safe work practice program for the ramp, and put someone in place who will remain responsible for training the new rampies in safe work practices. I know there is usually a high turnover rate on the ramp, and that is all the more reason to make certain an attitude of safety remains, even if the entire ramp grew is green. Simply saying "stay safe" or "be careful" is not enough. There are plenty of other instances where people have lost body parts, and not just rampies.

Just to add. It sounds like things were quite abnormal there in Yellowknife when this happened. Again I'm not saying that anyone was at fault, all I want to say is make absolute certain that the first thing anyone stepping out on the ramp thinks is "What can bite me in the ass while I am out here". Take care and think safe. Best wishes to the injured rampie.
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RVgrin
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by RVgrin »

Redneck_pilot86 wrote:To everyone in YK: SLOW DOWN. Take the extra few seconds to think about what you are about to do
That is good advice for all of us who work and play around airplanes. (Perhaps the people in Yellowknife are the last people who need to be reminded of this, and the rest of us should take note).

Anyone who can't imagine the damage that a spinning prop can do to human flesh need only turn off Safe Search and type in a few keywords into Google image search. But warning: you can never "unsee" something. Only do this if you want the image permanently etched in your brain.
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by shitdisturber »

This takes me back to my days in the military and the first time I ever worked on a propeller aircraft. My sergeant caught me taking a shortcut on a Tracker that had been in the hangar for weeks and gave me this piece of advice, possibly the only worthwhile advice I ever got from him. :lol: "Never, ever cut through the arc of a propeller and always treat them as if they're live." It's a rule I've followed to this day some twenty-five years later. In this case, it's probable that the rampie in question couldn't tell that he was in a dangerous spot due to the darkness; but as has already been said, reduced lighting should increase your vigilance. If you're used to going five feet outside a propeller's arc, double it. The life you save could be your own!
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Flyboy757
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by Flyboy757 »

I had just finished my airshow routine in a Tracker at a USAF base. After landing we followed the marshals signals to our parking spot and shut down. As the props were still winding down the marshaller headed towards us to chock the wheels....thru the prop!!! I did my quickest ever unstrap, opened the overhead hatch and stood up in it to warn him off. He stopped about 3ft from the still spinning prop. He said afterwards that he was unfamiliar with the Tracker and had been looking at the plane vs paying attention to what he was doing??!! Close call!!
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stef
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by stef »

How's he doing?
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arctic_slim
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by arctic_slim »

Last I heard he was in a wheelchair and able to move all his limbs etc. So far so good I guess, I don't have any other details.
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teacher
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by teacher »

A little piece of advice. I like to put the wing inspection lights on especially at night just before engine start and until after the props have stopped spinning. They illuminate the wing but also the props which might warn a rampie to watch their head since they are obviously more visible when lit.
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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by angry inch »

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Re: Yellowknife ramp worker injured by propeller

Post by teacher »

I'm not sure actually since we always start with ground power connected and always shut down with ground powered connected as well. It's rare for us at Jazz to have a black airplane let alone use the wing lights without a GPU connected. I will have to check it out.
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