Today’s blog comes by way of the Australasian Aviation Ground Safety Council’s always helpful monthly Safety Watch newsletter.
Member Toni Jenkins, team manager for Air New Zealand’s back-of-the-house team at Auckland Airport, reported on some recent GSE ingenuity that helps load such heavy devices as wheelchairs, motorized scooters and other mobility devices for disabled passengers.
“It was really important to us that our many special assistance passengers had their wheelchairs available right to the door of the aircraft, and then again when they arrive,” Jenkins said.
The problem was some of these devices can weigh in at more than 350 pounds.
“Our teams would literally manhandle these heavy items in and out of containers and trolleys,” Jenkins said, “potentially risking both themselves as well as the precious and priceless cargo.”
The crew tried forklifts to place the devices on a belt loader, but heavy wheelchairs were at a risk of falling off the loaders.
The use of specially designed and approved metal ramps now being used at AKL helped protect both cargo and crew.
Each ramp weighs about 28 pounds.
“These ramps are light-weight and flexible enough to handle different sized wheelchairs so they are easy to handle and the teams that have tried them out to date have given very favourable feedback,” Jenkins added.
Our thanks to Norman Hogwood for sending us the photos.
