Safety warning - aircraft steps and small children

Tabnabs

I'm not satisfied reading the answers and observations given that this problem is fully resolved.

Child's fall prompts Ryanair review

Ryanair has introduced new safety procedures after a child fell onto the tarmac from the top of a passenger staircase while boarding a plane at Stansted Airport.

The three-year-old girl, named in the report as Olga, escaped with only minor injuries after falling through the gap in the handrail at the top of the Boeing 737’s boarding steps in July 2009.

A report into the incident by Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the child had climbed the stairs unassisted as her mother, journalist Sasha Slater, was carrying her 18-month-old son, Joe, with one hand and luggage with the other.

When Olga reached the top of the stairs, “she turned towards her mother, leaned backwards and fell through the gap between the extendable handrail and the top of the airstairs,” the AAIB report said.

After receiving initial medical assistance, Olga was airlifted to hospital and was released 24 hours later.

The AAIB report concluded that the gap between the extendable handrail and the upper platform of the Boeing 737 airstairs represented “a hazard to small children boarding or disembarking the aircraft”.

The AAIB recommended that Ryanair review its current passenger boarding and disembarkation procedures “so that assistance is made available to passengers accompanied by children and those with special needs”.

In response, the airline today issued a brief statement stating it had reviewed its procedures as recommended by the AAIB and introduced new safety measures for boarding and disembarking aircraft.

“New procedures including new high visibility tensa barriers, and specific announcements to passengers travelling with young children on both boarding and disembarkation have also been introduced in order to eliminate any recurrence of these extremely rare events in the context of over one million Ryanair flights over the past two years,” spokesman Daniel de Carvalho said.

In its report, the AAIB said there had been four previously-reported similar incidents involving small children and this led to American aviation authorities issuing a special airworthiness information bulletin; the amendment of the Boeing 737 flight attendant manual and the release of two special safety bulletins.

The AAIB said it was making the safety recommendation to Boeing about the airstairs design as the special bulletins “do not provide physical protection against a child falling through the gap”.

Also, the AAIB said modification proposed by Ryanair after last summer’s incident provided “only a limited physical protection against falling”.

In May this year, Ms Slater wrote about the incident in the London Evening Standard .She described how Olga “suddenly screamed and slid off the side of the platform”, landing on her side on the tarmac.

Ms Slater went on: “I thrust Joe into the arms of an air hostess and ran down to reach my daughter who was lying, screaming, beneath the plane. I was forcibly prevented from holding her by one of the many doctors on the flight in case she’d broken her back.

“The next few hours passed in a blur of paramedics, sedatives, stretchers, helicopters and ambulances, brain scans and X-rays. But a day later she was running around in hospital, the only visible signs of injury some scuffing on her toes and knees, a sore neck, and an egg on her forehead.”

source

metrovelvet

I'm sorry that it took this to call attention to the treachery of those stairs

I knew eventually it would happen.

Sleepy

I don't get the controversy tbh. What's a three year old doing boarding a plane on her own?

Long Term Louth

Sleepy wrote: »

I don't get the controversy tbh. What's a three year old doing boarding a plane on her own?

Her mother was with her, she was not alone!

Sleepy

I don't know about you but when I'm taking even a four year old onto an airplane I hold their hand or carry them...

The Big Red Button

I think that her mother was carrying a younger child at the time? And presumably had bags etc with her as well?

I mean, if you manage to shepherd a young child onto the actual steps leading up onto the plane, with the high railings each side of her, and an air host(ess) standing at the top, I think it's reasonable enough to assume she'll make it onto the plane OK.

As far as I know, the child has made a full recovery, thankfully.

Ickle Magoo

Those steps are really steep and really big steps for little people, accident waiting to happen - we either carry or hold hands too.

Long Term Louth

Sleepy wrote: »

I don't know about you but when I'm taking even a four year old onto an airplane I hold their hand or carry them...

I think youll find that the problem here was the gap between the handrail and the stairs, not the child's mother. However as per usual it takes an accident to make a potential hazard safe.

Moonbeam

If the mother was looking after the child properly it would not have happened.
Plenty of kids bored planes every day with no accidents.
as accidents do happen it is good they are looking at the safety aspects of it though.

Long Term Louth

Moonbeam wrote: »

If the mother was looking after the child properly it would not have happened.
Plenty of kids bored planes every day with no accidents.
as accidents do happen it is good they are looking at the safety aspects of it though.

She was carrying another child also, difficulty can be envisaged as she boards, do you not agree?

mikom

Long Term Louth wrote: »

She was carrying another child also, difficulty can be envisaged as she boards, do you not agree?

Good luck on the escalators so if that's the case.

Long Term Louth

mikom wrote: »

Good luck on the escalators so if that's the case.

No gaps on escalators though!

metrovelvet

Why not carry the child too?

Well, if you have carry on to carry also, even if you do carry the child or hold the child's hands with the boarding pass stuffed down your bra, its a precarious situation. I've nearly fallen down them myself doing this. Because when I'm going up those stairs I dont have a free hand to hold onto the rail and with all that weight you have to carry, its very easy to fall or trip or get knocked over by another passenger.

mikom

Long Term Louth wrote: »

No gaps on escalators though!

No, just constant motion and sharp edges.
If you can't hold a three-years hand at least, then you should not be taking them into a busy situation.
No matter how many other babies and bags you have.

metrovelvet

mikom wrote: »

No, just constant motion and sharp edges.
If you can't hold a three-years hand at least, then you should not be taking them into a busy situation.
No matter how many other babies and bags you have.

Holding their hand isn't a strong enough measure against this happening on those stairs.

Long Term Louth

mikom wrote: »

No, just constant motion and sharp edges.
If you can't hold a three-years hand at least, then you should not be taking them into a busy situation.
No matter how many other babies and bags you have.

As I stated before the problem is the gap, and even after four similar incidents the known hazard was not rectified, there is a onus under health and safety law, on the airline to carryout a risk assessment and to provide safe access to and from the plane, obviously in this instance this was not the case.

mikom

Long Term Louth wrote: »

As I stated before the problem is the gap,

Part of the problem.

metrovelvet wrote: »

Holding their hand isn't a strong enough measure against this happening on those stairs.

Its a start...... and preferable to letting them stumble on unguided.

Long Term Louth

mikom wrote: »

Part of the problem.

In this instance the problem! had the previously highlighted hazard been rectified the child would not have fallen, hand held or not!

IMO the airline were held responsible

Its a start...... and preferable to letting them stumble on unguided.

mikom wrote: »

Part of the problem.

In this instance the problem! had the previously highlighted hazard been rectified the child would not have fallen, hand held or not!

IMO the airline were held responsible

stovelid

Unless she's part octopus, she's going to have problems trying to hold two children and luggage. Thus: The AAIB recommended that Ryanair review its current passenger boarding and disembarkation procedures “so that assistance is made available to passengers accompanied by children and those with special needs”.

Problem is that more passenger assistance - and indeed not having to haul on as much hand-luggage as possible - doesn't really chime with the low-cost air-travel model.

dr ro

stovelid wrote: »

Unless she's part octopus, she's going to have problems trying to hold two children and luggage. Thus: The AAIB recommended that Ryanair review its current passenger boarding and disembarkation procedures “so that assistance is made available to passengers accompanied by children and those with special needs”.

Problem is that more passenger assistance - and indeed not having to haul on as much hand-luggage as possible - doesn't really chime with the low-cost air-travel model.

like octomom?

wolfpawnat

Moonbeam wrote: »

If the mother was looking after the child properly it would not have happened.
Plenty of kids bored planes every day with no accidents.
as accidents do happen it is good they are looking at the safety aspects of it though.

I am glad someone else said it. Surely when you are going somewhere on a flight with 2 children, plus bags, plus buggy/buggies you should have a plan in place to make sure you are going to get children and bags onto the plane. Or perhaps asking a passerby to give a hand with the luggage while she took her children.

People are willing to give a hand, if you ask them. If she was having that much trouble with the plane, how did she think she would manage at her destination???

metrovelvet

wolfpawnat wrote: »

I am glad someone else said it. Surely when you are going somewhere on a flight with 2 children, plus bags, plus buggy/buggies you should have a plan in place to make sure you are going to get children and bags onto the plane. Or perhaps asking a passerby to give a hand with the luggage while she took her children.

People are willing to give a hand, if you ask them. If she was having that much trouble with the plane, how did she think she would manage at her destination???

No they dont because other passengers are anxious to get to their seats. I travel with one child, alone. With hand luggage, coats and boarding cards, things get cumbersome and an accident can easily happen. Nor should one depend on the kindness of strangers to compensate for hazardess stairs.

This is why I avoid Ryanair if I at all can.

smelltheglove

With the knowledge I may be slated, wow there are a lot of keyboard warriors here. I mean come on, do you all hold a 3 yr olds hand everytime they go up and down a stairs???? I have a 3 yr old and I can safely tell you she has not needed her hand held going up stairs in well over a year. Many many people would assume yes they would be fine allowing their 3 year old to walk up the steps in front of them unaided! And wow, guess what, the child made it up the steps unaided its just the area on the top of the steps was not secure! Give the mother a break.

Having previously worked as airline crew I recall often standing at the door outside the plane, this would be a simple enough measure to ensure this would not happen again, ensure the hostess is blocking the gap! Cabin crew are there for safety more so than service, it is their job to ensure the plane is secured for take off and since they need to stand and greet passengers anyway surely it wouldnt be too hard to ensure they do it at the edge of the barrier!

This situation reminds me of the poor child who fell from the gap at the escalator in Dunnes Stores in Blanchardstown, the shopping centre had been there over 5 yrs before this acciden ttook place, nobody had ever realised that the area had such a hazard but unfortunately it took the death of a young child to realise the hazard. http://www.independent.ie/national-news/mother-saw-baby-son-falling-16ft-from-escalator-211559.html

Ickle Magoo

Who said anything about holding a three yr olds hand every time they go up or down stairs? I was under the illusion the thread was about boarding and disembarking from aircraft.

I imagine most children 2+ can manage stairs but I don't think it's terribly unusual that if trying to climb up or down a very big, steep metal staircase with a 15ft drop to tarmac either side or something similar, that parents carry or hand-hold as an extra safety measure.

mikom

smelltheglove wrote: »

With the knowledge I may be slated, wow there are a lot of keyboard warriors here. I mean come on, do you all hold a 3 yr olds hand everytime they go up and down a stairs????

Come back to me when your stairs is outdoors, possibly wet and windy......... with a pile of other cattle and associated luggage all anxious to get up the stairs.
Then you can compare the two.

Shivers26

I flew with Ryanair last month and I was travelling with 2 other adults and 2 children aged 11 & 3. We had plenty of adults to hold bags and keep a hold of the small fellas hand while boarding the plane and even then it was awkward. I would never let him board alone though.

I dont think this is only a safety issue for small children, I imagine it would be easy enough for an adult to slip and fall on those steps if they were were wet, for example.

I did notice this year that Ryanair announced several times when we were getting on and off the plane to make sure that children were held at all times. I guess now I know why.

syklops

Please tell me this isn't going to turn into a Ryanair bashing thread.