Ramp Safety

Every pilot, to one degree or another, spends time contemplating risk management. While aviation is known to be potentially risky, most aviators adopt the strategy of actively managing risk as a means of minimizing the exposure to danger. Each and every flight involves a series of choices and judgments, either conscious or not, that ideally insures the safe completion of the flight. Outside the cockpit, we spend a significant portion of time reading accident reports, attending safety seminars or even going through the new FARs. Virtually every aspect of flight safety is scrutinized. I say "virtually" since there is one area which is generally given very little consideration. That is what happens on the ramp. How safe (or dangerous) is it to be in the vicinity of an airport ramp? It is exceedingly difficult to derive a useful statistical comparison (like fatalities per 100,000 flight hours) since there is a broad spectrum in ramp activities; from a sleepy grass strip where hand-propping might be the greatest danger, to a large metropolitan airport where the intensity of activity can appear to create a blur. The risks and frequency of events are likely to be completely different across the spectrum of airports. However, knowing what has happened to other pilots and operators might make you pause to think next time you walk across the apron while talking on your cellphone or glancing at the likely departure procedure. Instead, we need to recognize the hazards of being in an area where bad things can and do happen, and then look at the ramp in different way.

Key Takeaways:

• Airport ramps are significantly hazardous environments, often overlooked by pilots who typically focus more on in-flight risk management.
• Statistical data from a 22-year study revealed 80 ramp-related accidents, resulting in 21 fatalities among ground crews, primarily involving moving aircraft, vehicle collisions, and propeller strikes.
• Key ramp dangers include accidental contact with spinning propellers or rotors, vehicle-pedestrian collisions (often due to lack of spotters), fires during fueling or maintenance, and unexpected aircraft movement, all demanding constant vigilance from all personnel.

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