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Situational Awareness and Ramp Safety
I was just reflecting recently on how it seems there have been a number of unfortunate ramp accidents in recent history. In December of last year, a ramp worker at Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama was sucked into a jet engine and tragically killed, as a regional jet operated nearby. In June of this year, another ramper was tragically lost at the San Antonio International Airport when he, too, was sucked into a jet engine on a nearby operating aircraft. In the absence of information to suggest otherwise, these workers had presumably all received professional safety training with regard to their work on the ramp, and yet these tragedies still happened.
In October of 2022, a young college student rented an airplane to take a date to dinner. Neither he, nor his date, were pilots so the aircraft was operated by others. However, upon returning from the dinner, the young man’s date exited to the rear of the airplane while he, inexplicably, exited to the front and was fatally struck by the propeller. A tragedy of great proportions, for all involved. And in the case of general aviation, it is quite likely that outside the pilot’s training and experience in operating an aircraft, there was probably no prior professional ramp safety training present in that situation.
Every one of these incidents is a tragedy. The point of this article isn’t to place blame, but rather to ask ourselves what we can do to prevent a ramp accident, whether as pilots, passengers, observers, or otherwise.
Very early in my flight training…nay, on the first flight, I was taught about turning on the red beacon, shouting “CLEAR PROP!” out the window, and then scanning the area and waiting a moment prior to engaging the starter to crank the propeller. At the time, and even now, a few years and many hours of flight experience later, it seems like a simple thing to do. Yet having flown to many airports, both controlled and uncontrolled, it seems this isn’t as commonplace as one might expect. I’ve seen plenty of occasions where no warning was given at all, even though I was clearly within earshot of a good shout, and the starter was suddenly engaged on the engine. I’ve also seen the exact opposite, where the pilot exercised a fantastic amount of caution, and the gravity of the risk present on an active ramp was quite clear.
As a measure of good safety practice, and if you don’t already, I’d like to propose that we get back to basics. Engage the red beacon so that all out of earshot have at minimum a visual cue that the engine is running or possibly about to be, shout “Clear Prop” or “Clear” or something as an audible cue, scan the area for anyone who might not have seen or heard the warning, and then engage the starter after a few seconds and upon confirmation that no one is in the area. If the engine should fail to start, or if for some reason you don’t engage the starter rather soon after performing this procedure (say a passenger asks a question, or something breaks the routine), perform the procedure again. The effort might prevent a serious injury or tragedy, and it seems like a small effort to give for such potentially large returns.
If you are a Flight Instructor, please teach this simple measure of safety to your students early, and remind them often. Make it a habit so strongly ingrained that it is unlikely to be forgotten once they’ve earned their certificate and flown off into the sunset.
If you’re walking out on an active ramp with passengers, especially those not familiar with aviation operations, warn them about the risks present and what to watch out for. Make sure they are exercising situational awareness and not staring at their phone or wandering around. Confirm your passengers have awareness regarding propeller arc, propwash and rotorwash, jet blast, and make sure they know how to remain clear of these hazards. Never allow your passengers to exit to the front of the aircraft and always brief them to exit to the rear. Better yet, don’t allow passengers to exit the aircraft at all while the engine is running. If you catch your passengers doing something unsafe or putting themselves into harms way, stop them and address the behavior immediately.
If you are a non-pilot passenger who is reading this, be aware. Airport ramps are dangerous, complex, and busy places with lots of moving parts and things can change in an instant. Safety is a responsibility shared by all. If you aren’t an airport regular and are about to take a flight for which you will need to walk out on the ramp, kindly ask your pilot to help you become aware of these risks, and ask how you can keep yourself safe.
Although we are familiar with what we will brief our passengers on, we need to also practice safety for ourselves. While walking across the ramp, watch out for beacons, running engines, and moving aircraft. Watch out for jet blast, propwash, etc. There is a controlled airport I visit rather frequently for lunch that has airline service, and the ramp where the large aircraft move and operate is right next to the general aviation ramp. Just recently I was performing a pre-flight on an aircraft after lunch and an executive type jet turned off the taxiway and onto the general aviation ramp mere feet from me. Situational awareness and not becoming complacent are two very important keys here. By practicing safe ramp habits for ourselves, these safety measures are more likely to be at the forefront of our mind when we have passengers without the experience. It just takes a split second of reduced awareness to make a critical error, and become a victim or make one.
And once we have briefed our passengers (if we have them), safety crossed the ramp to the airplane, given our visual and audible warnings, and started the engine, our safety responsibilities do not cease. As we move the aircraft from the ramp to the movement area, we should move slowly and with great situational awareness. Have your head on a swivel and be looking for the wandering passenger or child who might inadvertently move into the path of your aircraft. Avoid programming radios or the GPS, or looking at charts, while moving in the ramp area and instead look outside for a potential conflict. Not only will this help to keep passengers safe, but on a congested ramp with a lot of other aircraft, things can change in an instant. Another aircraft could pull out in front of you, or a vehicle could be operating too closely. By being extra vigilant and operating defensively, we are more prepared to react quickly to a developing situation and hopefully prevent a tragic conflict.
We all have a responsibility to do our part to ensure the safety of ourselves, our passengers, and other individuals, aircraft, vehicles, and structures on the ramp. It is a responsibility we should take seriously, and operate with total situational awareness at all times. A life could depend on it.
Vigilantly,
Jeff
