Shock moment airport ground handler, 21, is mown down by 77-ton Airbus A320 leaving him fighting for life & losing leg
THIS is the shock moment an airport ground handler is mown down by a 77-ton Airbus A320.
The man, named Rail, 21, is now fighting for his life in intensive care after one leg was amputated and the other fractured during the freak accident.
The pilot had failed to wait for him to move away from under the plane when he began taxiing at Koltsovo airport in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on May 19.
The airport worker, who was run over by the A320’s front landing gear, is yet to regain consciousness, according to reports.
The unnamed captain was removed from the flight and a new crew took the plane to Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, after a three-and-a-half hour delay.
He has been interrogated and is accused of “negligence”.
A Ural Airlines spokesman said: “While taxiing from the aircraft parking lot, the technician suffered a leg injury.
“An ambulance was called to the scene, and the circumstances are being clarified.”
However, the Russian Investigation Committee filed a criminal case into “violation of safety rules that resulted in serious harm to health through negligence”.
A hospital spokesman told E1 news outlet: “The patient is in intensive care, his condition is serious.”
A commission examining the case has demanded Russian airlines re-examine communication between pilots and technicians ahead of taxiing.
The captain “did not give a command to turn off the intercom to the ground handling technician”, yet then started taxiing, it was reported.
The maximum weight of an A320 on takeoff is approximately 77 metric tons.
It comes just days after an airline worker plunged from a plane and crashed onto the runway at Jakarta Aiport in Indonesia.
Dramatic footage shows the moment the unsuspecting crew member had no idea the stepladder had been moved away from the plane as he stepped off the jet.
Elsewhere, a British granddad died of a heart attack after a Singapore Airlines Boeing flight plunged 7,000ft in just six minutes sparking mid-air panic.
Nearly 11 hours into the 13-hour journey to Singapore, the packed jet was smashed by sudden “severe turbulence” while passengers were eating breakfast, officials said.
Passengers were flung from their seats into the ceiling of the plane, leaving dents and blood stains on overhead lockers.
Dozens of people, including crew, suffered injuries including broken bones, with 30 people in hospital as of yesterday, according to Singapore Airlines