Man De-Icing Plane Falls to Death

[masoncgy]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/12/21/calgary-airport-deathh-deicing.html

A worker at the Calgary airport is dead after falling out of a cherry picker while de-icing an aircraft.

What a terrible tragedy for someone who makes sure we can fly safely... especially at this time of the year.

:(

[89s1]

Saw it on the news when I woke up, RIP to the man, and may peace be with his family through this holiday season :(

[Tomaz]

That sucks!

RIP

[nykz]

R.I.P really unfortunate for his family, especially at this time of the year:(

[Nufy]

Are they not required to have fall protection in those things ???

RIP

[Tik-Tok]

RIP to the poor man, but

W..T...F...?

A) I can't believe they use open cab sprayers
B) What the hell was he doing leaning out of the open cab???
C) Why wasn't he latch in?

edit:

Originally posted by Nufy
Are they not required to have fall protection in those things ???

RIP

Yeah, but what the company tells you to do, and what you decide to do, are two different things. 8' is the maximum height without (according the the OH&S guy that
audits us)

Hope it wasn't my wife's co-workers husband. He works for them.

[vengie]

Originally posted by Nufy
Are they not required to have fall protection in those things ???

RIP

You would think so! when I worked construction we were required to have fall protection when working 5' above the ground :nut:

RIP

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

RIP

[masoncgy]

Those de-icing cherry pickers have safety harnesses inside the bucket... so I would assume the fellow wasn't strapped in and took a spill as a result...

Speculation, of course.

Very tragic. :(

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
RIP to the poor man, but

W..T...F...?

A) I can't believe they use open cab sprayers
B) What the hell was he doing leaning out of the open cab???
C) Why wasn't he latch in?

edit:


Yeah, but what the company tells you to do, and what you decide to do, are two different things. 8' is the maximum height without (according the the OH&S guy that
audits us)

Hope it wasn't my wife's co-workers husband. He works for them.


At the Kelowna airport it is basically just a truck mounted cherry picker like this:

http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/5016569/193798_Full.jpg

It would be fairly easy to fall out of if you leaned over the side, the guys here wear a harness though.

RIP to the guy, real rough for his family, right at Christmas too, sad stuff.

[im2fst4u]

Very sad indeed, especially at this time of year.

R.I.P.

[scat19]

RIP, close to home as I work in aviation.

[ExtraSlow]

A workplace fatality is always sad. I would have assumed that he'd need to be clipped in in that situation though. You can be certain that they workplace health and safty people will be doing an investigation into this.

[AndyL]

Let's assume he was hooked in, they do work in close proximity to the plane - perhaps the lanyard hooked on something - pulled him out of the basket and tore the lanyard?

Legally over 6' above grade you're to be tied off (the old addage of you don't need to tie off in a aerial work platform no longer exists - all AWPs now require you to be tied off). If the company says different, it's up to the employee to envoke "right to refuse unsafe work", yep - lots of paperwork, but you have got to be safe...

If it turns out he wasn't tied off, it's going to be an ugly christmas for his family - WCB doesn't cover you if you don't use the proper PPE. And life insurance companies will likely say "workplace accident - not covered"...

[freshprince1]

Terrible news. Prayers are with the family.

[adidas]

From what i understand my friend was on the flight or waiting for the flight where this man lost his life.

Unfortunate.

RIP.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by AndyL
Let's assume he was hooked in, they do work in close proximity to the plane - perhaps the lanyard hooked on something - pulled him out of the basket and tore the lanyard?


If the bucket is withing 10' of the aircraft, he's doing something seriously wrong.

Here's how far away they should be deicing, and this is also the enclosed buckets Servisair SHOULD be using. I can't even imagine being in a open bucket in the dead of winter

edit: image taken out because it was way too big. here's the link.

http://www.klm.com/travel/aircraftservices_en/images/de-icing%20BA%20B737%202_tcm252-58618.JPG
http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/media/facts/documents/embraer_deicing.jpg

[AndyL]

Pretty sure the last time I was getting de-iced at the airport - the de-icing trucks were just plain old basket trucks; I remember thinking "poor SOB" as I was watching him hose us off...

[FraserB]

CAA has both types, guess the low seniority guys get to hang out in the cold.

RIP. Horrible accident that never should have happened.

[2Valve0]

This is horrible.
RIP

[KrisYYC]

Unfortunately open buckets are still used by Servisair and ATS in YYC.


Having experience spraying in an open bucket back in the day I can tell you that it is possible to fall out if you're not strapped in. Those trucks can jerk around a lot sometimes and I agree with Tik-tok, open buckets should be abolished. It's cold as hell, it's slippery, the truck lurches all over the place especially if you have a rookie in the truck, even though we wear masks you still get toxic glycol all over yourself especially if it's windy.


Straps are required but they can malfunction. I'm guessing he was either not strapped in, or was strapped in but the truck lurched while he was leaning out to spray and he fell out and the strapped failed. God imagine the passengers who witnessed it, I'm sure many did as there's always a lot of spectators watching the spray.


Kris

[KrisYYC]

Originally posted by FraserB
CAA has both types, guess the low seniority guys get to hang out in the cold.

RIP. Horrible accident that never should have happened.

It's not the CAA that does the de-icing. It's the individual airline or their vendor.

[Grogador]

It was all enclosed trucks a couple weeks ago when it was freezing penif, but open buckets this morning. Was delayed an hour due to ground (gate) crew but probably not related to this incident at all. RIP, work has to be the shittiest place to bite it.

What's the difference between the uber-coldness pink stuff, and the other green/blue stuff?? They both stink horribly and make me dizzy, really wish more pilots would learn to re-circ or disable the air...

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok



If the bucket is withing 10' of the aircraft, he's doing something seriously wrong.

Here's how far away they should be deicing, and this is also the enclosed buckets Servisair SHOULD be using. I can't even imagine being in a open bucket in the dead of winter

edit: image taken out because it was way too big. here's the link.

http://www.klm.com/travel/aircraftservices_en/images/de-icing%20BA%20B737%202_tcm252-58618.JPG
http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/media/facts/documents/embraer_deicing.jpg


While I agree to some degree, I also know that a lot of people travel outside the rules when they are at work. I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it is the employers fault. The open buckets are perfectly safe and used at every airport that I have been to, and you don't hear of deaths every day, so that says something.

[n1zm0]

Yeah^ but as much training and recurring training as you can do to an employee, complacency is always a factor. Sometimes i think taking human factors every year doesnt even do anything because it's always just going through the motions to get the course done.

RIP, i forsee TC cracking down on those open buckets pretty soon if not right away. As said in the article it looks like they've already began investigating ( after all they are just across in the business center tower)

skipping over the dollars to get to the dimes, sometimes aviation is that way which is unfortunate, which causes incidents like this to happen and only then does someone take action, i'm going to poke a guess at the full conversion to contained/enclosed buckets not being in the company's budget just yet (or ever for that matter) hence still using open buckets.

[KrisYYC]

Originally posted by Grogador
It was all enclosed trucks a couple weeks ago when it was freezing penif, but open buckets this morning. Was delayed an hour due to ground (gate) crew but probably not related to this incident at all. RIP, work has to be the shittiest place to bite it.

What's the difference between the uber-coldness pink stuff, and the other green/blue stuff?? They both stink horribly and make me dizzy, really wish more pilots would learn to re-circ or disable the air...

Whether it was open bucket or closed has nothing to do with temp, but which airline you are flying.

Air Canada and Westjet: Enclosed

Any other airline (all other airlines use either ATS or Servisair for their ground handling): open bucket

[Grogador]

AC this morning: open, UA couple weeks ago: enclosed ???

[KrisYYC]

Originally posted by Grogador
AC this morning: open, UA couple weeks ago: enclosed ???

You must have it backwards. AC does not have open bucket trucks.

UA is handled by ATS who ONLY has open bucket.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Grogador


What's the difference between the uber-coldness pink stuff, and the other green/blue stuff?? They both stink horribly and make me dizzy, really wish more pilots would learn to re-circ or disable the air...

"Pink" is orange, type I de-ice, it gets rid of any ice already accumulated on the A/C. "green/blue" is green, type IV, which prevents ice from accumulating for set amount of time, depending on dilution, and ambient temperature

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by KrisYYC


You must have it backwards. AC does not have open bucket trucks.

UA is handled by ATS who ONLY has open bucket.

AC and WJ both use open bucket here, but its also a tropical paradise compared to Calgary in the winter.

[KrisYYC]

Originally posted by GTS4tw


AC and WJ both use open bucket here, but its also a tropical paradise compared to Calgary in the winter.

Yeah I was talking about YYC only.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


"Pink" is orange, type I de-ice, it gets rid of any ice already accumulated on the A/C. "green/blue" is green, type IV, which prevents ice from accumulating for set amount of time, depending on dilution, and ambient temperature

Mmmm... Creamsicle and lime.

Taken January '08 at YYC.

http://i50.tinypic.com/wqubk5.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/30krodg.jpg

[Ashers]

That Deice fluid is NASTY stuff. I hate having to hang around the bridge when they deice. And the odour is a completely other issue, it's just rank. I always have sympathy for the TAC guys.

My deepest condolences to the family of the deceased ground worker. May he RIP. It's a horrible time of the year for this to happen.

[AndyL]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/12/22/calgary-airport-worker-fall-death-deicing.html?ref=rss#socialcomments

A Calgary airport worker who plunged to his death while de-icing a plane may not have been wearing a safety harness, said a union spokesman.

Murgappa Naiker, 52, died early Monday morning after falling out of a cherry picker-type machine to the ground six metres below. He leaves behind his wife Shanti Naiker and two adult children, who live in Vancouver.

Officials from the Human Resources Department are investigating the incident, along with Naiker's employer, Servisair, which provides aviation ground services.

Workers at the airport have many unanswered questions about what happened, said Mike Ambler, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

"Normally they would wear a harness and it would be attached to a bucket, it appears he wasn't wearing one, but we don't know why he wasn't," Ambler said.

Naiker was working alone at the time and no one saw him fall. The machine is a safe piece of equipment, Ambler said.

"The newer ones are more enclosed, but we have been using ones that haven't been enclosed for 35 years, so they are certainly safe to work with. It's more of a comfort thing, when it's enclosed you are not out in the elements."

Died a day before his birthday
Tuesday would have been Naiker's birthday, said his cousin Krishner Naicker.

The two cousins grew up together in Fiji. Naiker came to Canada in his late 20s, moved to Calgary in 1994 and started working at the airport with his cousin.

"He was one of the hardest workers I have ever met in my life. He worked hard and he bought his house," Naicker recalled.

The cousins saw each other at work on Monday morning, talked and joked, then parted ways to do their jobs. Naiker fell at 6 a.m. MT and was declared dead at the scene.

"We knew something happened down there. There was all sorts of help out there, emergency vehicles out there," Naicker said.

Naiker said he has never seen such an accident at the airport.

"I wouldn't say it was a dangerous job. They supply you with all the mandatory, standard safety procedures and everything. We are well trained by the company," he said.

"This isn't the first year he is doing it. He is a very experienced guy and I really don't know what happened out there."

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by AndyL
The machine is a safe piece of equipment, Ambler said.

"The newer ones are more enclosed, but we have been using ones that haven't been enclosed for 35 years, so they are certainly safe to work with. It's more of a comfort thing, when it's enclosed you are not out in the elements."

:facepalm:

Personally, when it's -45*C windchill, I'd call that a safety issue, not a "comfort thing". They're just too cheap to buy new ones.

I totally understand the guy not wearing a harness though, sometimes you just get complacent with that kind of thing. I've been known to go up on our tail without one as well. Don't think I'll be doing that anymore.

[Supa Dexta]

I don't think the open buckets is an issue at all.. If he wanted to work for a company with closed buckets he could have.. But at the end of the day this was his fault. We can all be thankful in this country companies are required to do things safely, this guy chose not to, and it is what it is now. But what it is not, is the companies fault for being cheap, or cutting corners. :dunno:

[AndyL]

Oh don't think for a second the company's not going to get significant fines, and dragged through the mud... I wouldn't want to be working there right now - personal responsibility doesn't exist anymore...

OH&S will be no doubt handing out fines left and right to anyone above this worker - for not covering complacency or Fall protection in toolbox talks, for not ensuring he was wearing his ppe, for not following proper working alone practices, the list will go on long and far... Hope they had documented fall protection training. Most companies (the one I work for included) would fall short here - and I've heard the rules changed, that quicky "this is how to put on a harness" one they gave at AWP training no longer counts.

Managers are held accountable for their workers actions - be they their direct supervisor or not...

[SCHIDER23]

Poor guy,
RIP:(

[A3GTiVR6SC]

Originally posted by AndyL
Oh don't think for a second the company's not going to get significant fines, and dragged through the mud... I wouldn't want to be working there right now - personal responsibility doesn't exist anymore...

OH&S will be no doubt handing out fines left and right to anyone above this worker - for not covering complacency or Fall protection in toolbox talks, for not ensuring he was wearing his ppe, for not following proper working alone practices, the list will go on long and far... Hope they had documented fall protection training. Most companies (the one I work for included) would fall short here - and I've heard the rules changed, that quicky "this is how to put on a harness" one they gave at AWP training no longer counts.

Managers are held accountable for their workers actions - be they their direct supervisor or not...


:werd: Well said..

[C4S]

:(

Sad .. RIP //

[VWEvo]

Murgappa was a patient of mine for the last 5 years. He just came in for his cleaning and check up 2 weeks ago. An absolute outstanding individual, never had a bad thing to say about anyone. He absolutely loved his job, and enjoyed taking time to travel through asia and fiji every year. I'm deeply saddened to hear today that it was him, I can only imagine what his family is going through. He will be missed!!