Airport as Multi-Operator Environment Presents Challenges to Cooperation and Coordination

Photo: SIAF

Dollies Restricted Movement

Upon landing of the Juneyao Air airplane, a member of a ground handling service provider’s arrival team was relocating the vehicle to a position next to the airbridge to be ready for the airplane’s arrival at the stand. However, because cargo dollies left in a no-parking zone between adjacent stands restricted freedom of movement, he stopped the vehicle in an equipment restraint area. From the cab it appeared that the vehicle was outside the no-parking zone.

While the flight crew noticed the vehicle during taxiing-in and assumed it was sufficiently far from the stand boundary, the ramp agents saw that a collision was imminent and attempted to stop the airplane by giving hand signals. At the moment the airplane’s wing contacted the vehicle, the team leader pushed the emergency stop button.  The flight crew responded to the stop signals by bringing the airplane to a halt.

“The airport area has been developed in phases, and space utilization has been determined by growing passenger numbers and an increase in airplane sizes. In some places the stands form a confined area, which hampers safe ground handling,” explains investigator-in-charge Janne Kotiranta.

Investigation also found that some apron markings are conflicting and difficult to interpret.

According to Kotiranta, this “leads to parking against rules, and deviations from instructions have become an undesired norm.”

Safety Improvement Requires Interaction between Operators

Although ground handling service providers operating at Helsinki airport report occurrences actively within each company and carry out risk assessment, a common occurrence reporting system accessible to all operators is not available at airports. The system would be conducive to learning from incidents and close calls across organizational boundaries.

“Safety improvement requires a body that coordinates cooperation between operators and has powers and resources to improve operations,” Kotiranta continues.

To improve ground handling safety, the SIAF recommends harmonization of apron markings, establishment of a common risk assessment method and coordination of overall apron safety.