What happened
During routine ground operations, an aircraft was being assisted in its final parking maneuver by a station agent on the ramp. The agent signaled the pilot to stop the aircraft once it reached the designated parking position. After the aircraft came to a halt, the agent placed her lighted wands on the tarmac and proceeded toward the nose of the stationary aircraft to retrieve wheel chocks.
As she approached the area where the chocks were located, the agent walked directly into the rotating propeller of the left engine. The incident resulted in fatal injuries to the ground crew member. It was later determined that the agent had twelve years of experience working on the ramp and had successfully met all training requirements, including specific protocols for ramp safety procedures.
The investigation
Investigation details regarding mechanical failure or pilot error were not provided in the source text. The focus remained on the sequence of events leading to the contact between the ground crew member and the aircraft propulsion system.
Findings
The primary finding relates to the interaction between the ground crew member and the active aircraft systems during the parking phase. Despite having significant experience and proper training, the agent was fatally injured by the rotating propeller while performing standard chocking duties near a stationary but powered aircraft.