Police probe death of a woman at Brisbane airport

[Mal]

Police probe death of a woman at Brisbane airport | The Courier-Mail

POLICE are investigating the death of a woman, 63, who fell more than 6m from a 747-400 jet at the Brisbane International Airport this morning.
Emergency services were called to the airport at this morning after the airport employee fell from the aircraft to the ground.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokseman said the woman was loading catering on to a plane when she fell about 6m to the tarmac.

QF175 BNE-LAX was delayed until 15:32 today due to this incident.

 

[JohnK]

What a sad accident!

I have seen them load catering onto flights here in Australia and in SE Asia and always thought that it was safe and the aerobridge was connected to the aircraft with no gaps.

 

[meloz]

Catering is normally done with a high lift truck, which is not as safe as an Aerobridge. There are wings on the platform that are sometimes not used, ending in tragic results worldwide.

 

[rwatts]

Catering is normally done with a high lift truck, which is not as safe as an Aerobridge.

Whenever I have watched, the catering workers have used harnesses attached to the top of the truck until a short walkway is pushed from the front of the raised platform and locked in place against the aircraft. Waist-high guards have been present all around. Some of the process looked like a nuisance but I've never seen them not take all the precautions.

When I first saw the original post I did wonder how it could happen because of what I had seen. A very unfortunate accident I suspect happened because someone didn't stick to procedure.

Richard.