What happened
During preparations for departure, two employees initiated a pushback procedure for an aircraft. One employee operated a Lektro electric pushback vehicle while a second employee acted as a wing-walker on the left side of the airplane. As the movement began, the pushback vehicle moved into a jack-knife position toward the right engine, which was running with the propeller in the feathered position.
The Captain and First Officer signaled for the ground personnel to halt the procedure. However, the vehicle continued to turn around the nose of the aircraft until the second employee ran to the vehicle to stop the movement. During the incident, the original operator exited the vehicle on its left side, moving toward the right wing. As the operator walked backward toward the turning propeller, they were struck by the propeller at least twice before falling to the ground. The employee sustained injuries during the encounter.
Findings
At the time of the accident, the operator of the pushback vehicle and the wing-walker were not using ground-to-cockpit headsets because the equipment was not functioning properly. Company procedures dictate that if headsets are inoperative, hand signals must be used for communication between ground personnel and the Captain, and an additional ground agent is required to assist. Additionally, the operator noted that this was the first time the injured employee had operated the pushback vehicle alone.