Aviation Safety—Grounded!

When we talk about aviation safety, our attention often goes to aircraft operational concerns. They are important, but by no means do they represent all the risks in a flight department. So, what’s “the rest of the story”?

Too often, we overlook what’s going on (or not going on) in our aircraft hangars. In our work with hundreds of aviation clients over the years, it has become clear that hangar safety often needs enhanced focus and attention. The hangar is an inherently dangerous environment that must be treated with caution and respect at all times.

Are the anomalies we see FAA FAR problems? Yes, occasionally. But far more common are trouble areas under the not-so-watchful eye of our OSHA, EPA, aviation insurance and associated group inspectors. Let’s take a look at some of the most common risks we’ve encountered.

Slip and Fall Risks

Earthbound
The hangar floor deserves very careful attention. Slip and fall accidents, suffered especially by our non-aviation visitors, are way too common. Best practices call for clearly marked perimeter walkways with high traction “grit” in the floor coating for those areas. If passenger loading or unloading occurs in the hangar during periods of inclement weather, additional precautions should be taken to avoid your travelers slipping on your mirror-like hangar floor.

Elevated Work Locations—Fall Protection
How often have we heard, “I am fine, just on the wing or working within my elevated lift or B-Stand. I don’t really need to be wearing any fall protection gear.”? A fall, even from 3 feet, onto a concrete hangar floor, can be lethal! But what kind of fall protection is the best? Only systems that are truly effective in breaking your fall before you hit the floor or another part of the aircraft structure. If you are using a ceiling-mounted cable system, it needs to be directly overhead, not offset. If it is offset, you may swing into and hit the aircraft’s structure before your fall is safely arrested.

Eye Protection—Becoming Impaled

Approaching aircraft in the hangar from the rear poses special dangers if they are not properly mitigated. For many aircraft, the trailing edge of ailerons and flaps is very near eye level. Rigid static wicks are hard to see from the rear. The risk of walking into a static wick or trailing edge aileron or flap is very real.

The good news is that you have at least two very effective risk mitigation techniques: 1) Use brightly colored static wick covers (streamers) and brightly colored trailing edge foam covers, and 2) Walk with your eyes focused on where you are going, not staring at the hangar floor.

Aircraft Battery Maintenance

Battery maintenance and storage should be performed in a dedicated work room with effective ventilation. Way too often, we have seen deep cycles, capacitance checks and cell changes being done on a table in the hangar, frequently in proximity to an aircraft. Remember that OSHA regulations require this work to be done in a proper structure off the hangar floor.

High-Pressure Liquids, Gaseous Systems and Components

Many injuries and deaths have been caused by mistakes or complacency in dealing with pressurized systems while servicing tires, struts, accumulators and hydraulic systems. For example, grabbing a strut pressure gauge by mistake to service a tire can lead a tech to believe the 2 on the gauge is 200 instead of 2000 psi. This has happened with disastrous results. A seemingly minor mistake can have tragic consequences.

Moving Aircraft in and Around Hangars—Big Risk and Losses

“Hangar rash” is preventable, but it takes a high focus and dedication to move aircraft correctly every time. We have all too often seen people moving aircraft into and out of a hangar with no wing and tail walkers.

Towing an aircraft on a wet or icy ramp raises the risk factor, requiring greater vigilance than usual. Many hangar rash incidents are preventable by having the appropriate number of people to move an aircraft and having a person in the cockpit or someone with a pair of chocks standing by in the event of a tow bar failure, shear pin breakage or an aircraft sliding on snow or ice.

Thinking It Through—MRATs

In the flight operations area, Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) usage has become a standard best practice that helps us think through the challenges we may encounter on an upcoming flight. That same concept, the Maintenance Risk Assessment Tool (MRAT), is often (but not widely) used prior to the performance of a significant maintenance procedure. The MRAT helps us think through the risk levels and mitigations we will use during that upcoming maintenance event.

Risk Prevention—Hazard Reporting

Our experience with Safety Management Systems (SMS) in Part 91 flight departments is that hazard reporting in the hangar (i.e., the use of a formal Hazard Report form) is an area of opportunity. While maintenance professionals are quick to correct a hazard when found (such as a spill on the hangar floor), they are less likely to submit a formal Hazard Report. This prevents the all-important identification of preventative action(s) from taking place to avoid the recurrence of the problem.

A good step to take is to ensure maintenance leadership and direct supervision have a focus on writing simple Hazard Reports, which will help foster a culture focused on safety. Then, the safety manager should review the Hazard Reports with the entire safety committee to foster uniform engagement in the SMS throughout the flight department.

Tool Control

While many fight departments have adequate tool control procedures in place for the tools used by maintenance technicians, one area that is often overlooked is the equipment used by contract aircraft cleaning and detail services, including rags, bottles, gloves, etc.

At one client, a clear plastic bottle of cleaning solvent was left underneath the rudder pedal of an aircraft, preventing full use of the rudder. The watchful eye of a flight crew member during a pre-flight spotted the bottle, and it was removed before the flight. The lesson learned? Everyone working on an aircraft, even the outside cleaning and detailing service, needs to have adequate tool control procedures in place and utilized.

In Summary

Safety is a department-wide initiative, more accurately described as a mindset, and everyone in the department needs to have their head in the game. We hope the items noted above serve as a checklist the next time you’re in the hangar.

As aviation leaders, we all must focus on advancing an attitude of safety throughout the entire aviation organization.