How to Approach Aircraft Arriving at Your FBO Safely

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Ten SOPs to Follow When Aircraft Arrive at Your Ramp

The FBO operations ramp can be a very busy place. Aircraft arrivals, departures, baggage service, towing, hook-up and removal of GSE, galley servicing and the escorting of passengers and crew all occur there.

With jet and propeller-driven aircraft starting up or shutting down, there are always a lot of moving parts.

Therefore, it is up to every FBO employee to make the ramp as safe an environment as possible by adhering to standard operating procedures (SOPs), staying vigilant and using common sense.

As part of our series on best practices for FBOs, we suggest these 10 SOPs for avoiding danger before approaching an arriving aircraft to initiate service:

  1. Do not approach any aircraft until it has come to a complete stop and engines are shut down.
  2. Visually confirm that the jet engine exhaust wake and/or propellers have stopped and the anti-collision lights (red beacons) have been turned off.
    When the red beacons are on, the aircraft’s electrical system is active, engines could restart, and wing surface systems such as flaps, slats, speed brakes or other devices may suddenly activate or extend.
  3. Once visually clear, devise a predetermined plan of safe entry and exit to avoid danger areas when placing wheel chocks and safety cones. These danger areas include engine intake/exhaust locations, areas surrounding the propeller arc, gear doors or airstair doors.
  4. When walking from one end of the aircraft to the other, always walk around the wingtip of the aircraft, never between the engines and the fuselage or within the propeller arc of a piston or turboprop aircraft.
  5. Avoid making contact with static discharge wicks on the back of wing surfaces. They are fragile, can break and could cause injury.
  6. Never approach an aircraft if you are unsure if it is safe to do so.
  7. Before the flight crew initiates opening the door from inside the aircraft, the marshaller should signal by hand to the cockpit crew that the door is safe to open.
  8. Line service employees should stay well clear of the aircraft entrance door while the crew initiates opening the door from inside the aircraft.
  9. Entrance doors can suddenly swing down or to the side, so it is important not to approach cabin doors until the pilot-in-command or other crew members have completely opened the entrance door.
  10. At this point, the line service employees, along with the flight crew, will make sure that doors are fully opened and locked before beginning work.

Please leave any comments you have about this blog post below. If you have any questions, please give us a call or send us an email: jenticknap@bellsouth.net, 404-867-5518; ronjacksongroup@gmail.com, 972-979-6566.

ABOUT THE BLOGGERS:

John Enticknap has more than 35 years of aviation fueling and FBO services industry experience and is an IS-BAH Accredited auditor. Ron Jackson is co-founder of Aviation Business Strategies Group and president of The Jackson Group, a PR agency specializing in FBO marketing and customer service training. Visit the biography page or absggroup.com for more background.

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