It's a dangerous environment on the ramp. Feel bad for the individual's family.

https://abc7ny.com/delta-employee-at-jf ... b/5468454/

Very sad news. Condolences to the family and his Delta colleagues.

Please stay safe out there!

We get in a rush on the ramp, seconds matter, and sometimes we get momentarily distracted, or lose situational awareness. Gotta have your head on a swivel at all times, or you can get bit. I have seen it happen all too many times over the years.

So sad.

Terrible accident. As a tug driver, having my tug slip into gear or roll away while parked is one of my worst fears. I will not drive a tug without a working parking brake.

I’m out on ramp...safety,safety.. always wear seatbelts and turn off equipment when you get up

Blueknows wrote:

I’m out on ramp...safety,safety.. always wear seatbelts and turn off equipment when you get up

Turning off equipment is key - at my company you are REQUIRED to turn off a tug before you get out. No exceptions. This is why.

Very sad. Ain't this the second one this week? I suppose the moral of the story is check, check and check again. I know this is easier said than done but it may just make life on the ramp that little bit safer. A delay is better than a death.

A hard reminder that our work environment can turn lethal in a second. Please work safely and with intention. I can't think of a better way to honor this man.

I had a pushback roll onto my foot once when the parking brake was broken. For some reason I had steel-toe boots on so it just trapped me there.

Funny part, nobody was around until the FO came down to do his walk around and I hailed him and asked him to drive it back off of my foot and he freaked out and went running looking for someone qualified to drive it before I could explain that I wasn’t hurt

HPRamper wrote:

Blueknows wrote:

I’m out on ramp...safety,safety.. always wear seatbelts and turn off equipment when you get up

Turning off equipment is key - at my company you are REQUIRED to turn off a tug before you get out. No exceptions. This is why.

If wave runners have a disconnect body tether why not tugs?

Harvestman wrote:

Terrible accident. As a tug driver, having my tug slip into gear or roll away while parked is one of my worst fears. I will not drive a tug without a working parking brake.

I'm sorry for my ignorance, but does the tug engine fire up automatically on depressing the accelerator (like a gasoline golf cart or some of the latest cars when in "enviro" mode), or is it like a regular car where you have to turn the key (or push a button) to fire up the engine each time? If the latter, does it get turned off by policy when the tug driver gets off? Or do they let you leave it running while dismounting? And, if not, do people typically do that anyway?

In the parking garage I use, the guys bring the car up, put it in park, and get out and you get in. For years, they just left it running during that handoff. It's New York, so faster and more convenient are the way stuff gets done. However, recently, I notice that everyone is pretty-religiously turning the car off before that handoff. I suspect that something caused the change, most likely something involving a vehicle that slipped into gear or wasn't entirely out-of-gear before the attendant got out.

wjcandee wrote:

Harvestman wrote:

Terrible accident. As a tug driver, having my tug slip into gear or roll away while parked is one of my worst fears. I will not drive a tug without a working parking brake.

I'm sorry for my ignorance, but does the tug engine fire up automatically on depressing the accelerator (like a gasoline golf cart or some of the latest cars when in "enviro" mode), or is it like a regular car where you have to turn the key (or push a button) to fire up the engine each time? If the latter, does it get turned off by policy when the tug driver gets off? Or do they let you leave it running while dismounting? And, if not, do people typically do that anyway?

The tugs I’ve driven have to be turned on like a regular car. My company’s SOP is that any vehicle must be turned off when there’s nobody in the driver’s seat, but I see people on the ramp leave the tugs on all the time. It’s possible that it slipped into gear if the gearshift wasn’t perfectly centered (I had a vehicle with a faulty gearshift roll away on me this weekend), or that it was in neutral but without the parking brake set and there could’ve been a slope that caused it to roll away.

You have to turn a "key" or push a button.

Sounds from some of the excellent explanations above that ground equipment isn't maintained with the same precision as the aircraft it services. Maybe the FAA and/or OSHA should mandate a higher standard of maintenance and inspection and actually enforce it. Yeah, yeah, it will cost the carriers more $$, but in the long run, proper maintenance saves money, without even considering the cost of a life.

Damn! getting crushed by a plane tug...let alone anything will not be pleasant!!!!!! Condolences to the family!!!!!

OB1504 wrote:

wjcandee wrote:

Harvestman wrote:

Terrible accident. As a tug driver, having my tug slip into gear or roll away while parked is one of my worst fears. I will not drive a tug without a working parking brake.

I'm sorry for my ignorance, but does the tug engine fire up automatically on depressing the accelerator (like a gasoline golf cart or some of the latest cars when in "enviro" mode), or is it like a regular car where you have to turn the key (or push a button) to fire up the engine each time? If the latter, does it get turned off by policy when the tug driver gets off? Or do they let you leave it running while dismounting? And, if not, do people typically do that anyway?

The tugs I’ve driven have to be turned on like a regular car. My company’s SOP is that any vehicle must be turned off when there’s nobody in the driver’s seat, but I see people on the ramp leave the tugs on all the time. It’s possible that it slipped into gear if the gearshift wasn’t perfectly centered (I had a vehicle with a faulty gearshift roll away on me this weekend), or that it was in neutral but without the parking brake set and there could’ve been a slope that caused it to roll away.

Sounds like the industry has some maintenance issues with the ground equipment???! Wtf. If anything is slipping into gear on its own it should be taken out of service and fixed immediately.

A tug?!! That's just awful! I have had my near death experiences as a ramp rat! It is no playground out there. Man I wish I could have been there to save him. All my fellow ramp rats, please be careful out there! God only knows if he was a member here.

Some common things I see on the ramp...

-Tug left running while driver dismounts and connects carts.

-Tug parked (with engine off or on) with parking brake not set.

-Tug parked and shut off with Tug left in gear.

-Driving with a bag or two in the passenger seat. Accidents have been known to happen because the bags shift/fall and hit the gear shifter and/or parking brake.

All are against the rules, of course. But they do happen frequently and could lead to this kind of accident.

Be careful out there.

Harvestman wrote:

Terrible accident. As a tug driver, having my tug slip into gear or roll away while parked is one of my worst fears. I will not drive a tug without a working parking brake.

Many times they leave the parking brake off to hook up because they can roll the tug back to the dolly’s. The safety rules are never followed. I can see how the tug slipped in gear. I had a belt loader move with the shifter in neutral

The ramp is a dangerous place, and I feel for this ramper's family and friends.

wjcandee wrote:

Harvestman wrote:

Terrible accident. As a tug driver, having my tug slip into gear or roll away while parked is one of my worst fears. I will not drive a tug without a working parking brake.

I'm sorry for my ignorance, but does the tug engine fire up automatically on depressing the accelerator (like a gasoline golf cart or some of the latest cars when in "enviro" mode), or is it like a regular car where you have to turn the key (or push a button) to fire up the engine each time? If the latter, does it get turned off by policy when the tug driver gets off? Or do they let you leave it running while dismounting? And, if not, do people typically do that anyway?

In the parking garage I use, the guys bring the car up, put it in park, and get out and you get in. For years, they just left it running during that handoff. It's New York, so faster and more convenient are the way stuff gets done. However, recently, I notice that everyone is pretty-religiously turning the car off before that handoff. I suspect that something caused the change, most likely something involving a vehicle that slipped into gear or wasn't entirely out-of-gear before the attendant got out.

No, there is still a starter on the dash panel of every tug. Most tug drivers leave them running while they are loading/unloading freight or hooking up dollies/equipment, but it is strongly encouraged that they be turned off while performing those operations. Problem is, some of the tugs have starters on their last legs and won't start immediately afterward.

I prefer to keep mine off as often as possible since it keeps the operating temperature down. There was a similar incident at DHL a couple years ago in which someone injured their legs by having their tug roll back when they were attempting to hook up empty dollies, without using the parking brake.

There's no shift interlock that requires you to depress the brake on any bag tug that I've ever seen. Some of the newer pushbacks have it, but the tugs are just forward, reverse, and neutral. The parking brakes usually adjust by spinning the end of the handle, so it is easy for them to be adjusted where they don't really hold.

Company policy for us is to turn them off and chock the rear, driver's side wheel whenever the driver's seat is unoccupied. However, in practice it is sometimes easier to just put it in neutral, maybe set the parking brake, jump off and connect the bag carts quickly and then jump back on and go. It is unfortunate that rules are not followed, but also super common in an effort to save time.

CWL757 wrote:

Very sad. Ain't this the second one this week? I suppose the moral of the story is check, check and check again. I know this is easier said than done but it may just make life on the ramp that little bit safer. A delay is better than a death.

Yes, ramper in CLT killed this week as well.

HPRamper wrote:

Blueknows wrote:

I’m out on ramp...safety,safety.. always wear seatbelts and turn off equipment when you get up

Turning off equipment is key - at my company you are REQUIRED to turn off a tug before you get out. No exceptions. This is why.

And yet, people in a hurry won't do this. It "Saves time", they say. The culture of not doing it builds until someone gets hurt.
I think that is a management issue. Lazy sups will overlook stuff like this, as long as the job is getting done. Safety Culture starts at the top.

Silver1SWA wrote:

Some common things I see on the ramp...

-Tug left running while driver dismounts and connects carts.

-Tug parked (with engine off or on) with parking brake not set.

-Tug parked and shut off with Tug left in gear.

-Driving with a bag or two in the passenger seat. Accidents have been known to happen because the bags shift/fall and hit the gear shifter and/or parking brake.

All are against the rules, of course. But they do happen frequently and could lead to this kind of accident.

Be careful out there.

"Driving with a bag or two in the passenger seat. Accidents have been known to happen because the bags shift/fall and hit the gear shifter and/or parking brake"

lol... I have seen this happen, still have a vivid picture of the tug ramming the gear of a turboprop full of pax. What a fun way to end a 4 day...

nws2002 wrote:

There's no shift interlock that requires you to depress the brake on any bag tug that I've ever seen. Some of the newer pushbacks have it, but the tugs are just forward, reverse, and neutral. The parking brakes usually adjust by spinning the end of the handle, so it is easy for them to be adjusted where they don't really hold.

Company policy for us is to turn them off and chock the rear, driver's side wheel whenever the driver's seat is unoccupied. However, in practice it is sometimes easier to just put it in neutral, maybe set the parking brake, jump off and connect the bag carts quickly and then jump back on and go. It is unfortunate that rules are not followed, but also super common in an effort to save time.

Our tugs and belt loaders all have the shift interlock - they start normally but the brake has to be firmly depressed to put them into gear. That said, plenty of them have poorly maintained parking brakes and they will roll downhill even when in neutral and the parking brake engaged.

Seems to me the vehicle maintenance is lacking across the board in the industry. I've always felt if OSHA decided to make a big deal out of it the airlines would be spending quite a bit of money in upkeep and/or replacement of GSE.

Terrible news and yet, sadly, fully preventable.

Gotta follow safety procedures, gang. The things we do so routinely without thinking, and in a time-sensitive environment that is loaded with sensory stimulation, can bite us.

Certainly, maintenance is part of it, but basic operability should always be verified by the operator.

Several layers of safety failures here.

nws2002 wrote:

The parking brakes usually adjust by spinning the end of the handle, so it is easy for them to be adjusted where they don't really hold.

In my station, those are all covered in a heavy sort of shrinkwrap, so that we don't do the adjusting on our own.

Hello all,
In my youth I was a ground mechanic at ORD for Simmons/ American Eagle. There are several manufacturers of airport baggage tugs. The one thing about any tug is that they’re small but weigh a lot. At ORD, we had the Tug tugs. Over the rear wheels were cast steel to put weight on the rear wheels for pulling. The front grill was half inch rolled steel. The shifter is a simple three position gated shifter. After a lot of use, the sharp edges of the gates wear down where it can shift into gear. When worn and part of my job was to check the parking brakes and the shifters. If they were worn or inop, the tug was downed. Because they had a built in start switch, I took the battery out to make sure no one would use the equipment. Changed quite a few parking brakes and shifters. They were considered wear items. We also had a policy that at the start of the shift, the operator needed to do a brake check and a parking brake check. But I agree with others who commented that people leave the tugs running or hook up carts or anything without the parking brake on. Our ramps were slanted toward the center of the alley and I’ve seen tugs roll away with operators chasing them down to press the brake or pull the parking brake.
Condolences to the family, friends and co workers of the lost ramper...