A ground agent attending to a Transnusa Airlines flight at an Indonesian airport ended up in the hospital after falling from the door of the Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
In a video shared by @kamto_adi on X (formerly Twitter), the ground agent is seen taking a step back onto what he thought was the airstair surface. Unfortunately the ground crew started pushing the airstair away from the aircraft, resulting in the agent falling onto the apron and injuring himself.
It appears that that the aircraft was going through final preparations to be pushed back, so we have to ask what are the reasonable expectations here. Should the injured agent be expected to always check that attached equipment is in place, or was there some sort of miscommunication resulting in him thinking the stairs was still in place?
I’m no lawyer and don’t know the in’s and out’s of ground handling rules, but I suspect those handling the airstair would be at fault. Aircraft doors should normally be closed before boarding equipment is removed to avoid situations just like this.
It is not unreasonable to assume that the agent would have expected the stairs to be there. Maybe in the rush trying to get everything buttoned up, the JAS Airport Services crew jumped a few steps trying to meet the push back time.
Airport officials have since launched an investigation into the matter. Besides a few minor broken bones, the agent reportedly received immediate medical care was listed as not receiving any serious injuries otherwise.
Unfortunately situations like this are slowly becoming more commonplace on the ramp, and can be fatal in some cases. In April 2023, a security agent working for Air Asia lost his life in similar circumstances.
According to the reports, Vivin Anthony Dominic lost his balance while standing on a ladder that was being removed from the aircraft. Dominic seriously injured his head, and was later pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital.
Featured image: kamto_adi/X
