Any person entering the aircraft is exposed to the hazard of falling from the doors. This includes Airlines’ personnel (flight crew, cabin crew, maintenance personnel) as well as passengers, and external ground staff such as servicing, cleaning and catering personnel. Aircraft doors refer to passenger doors, cargo doors and ground service access doors to various areas of the fuselage.

During transit or during maintenance visits, the aircraft doors may need to remain open for a number of reasons. In such cases, safety equipment must be used and certain precautions followed.

All passenger doors of Airbus aircraft are equipped with a safety strap (fig.1). The safety strap, rolled and stowed in each cabin door frame, is a device used for indication purposes only. It should only be used for a limited time pending the closure of the door. A safety strap does not prevent from a fall. The Cabin Crew Operating Manual (CCOM), states that whenever a cabin door is open with no stairs or no gateway in position, the safety strap should be installed and the door should not be left unattended.

When a door remains open and unattended for a long period of time, Airbus recommends the installation of a safety barrier (fig.2) in absence of stairs or gateway. This same recommendation is made in IATA’s Airport Handling Manual (AHM). The safety barrier is designed to prevent people from falling through the open doorway. It is the most efficient protection against falls from an open door. All Airbus aircraft have a safety barrier available for each door type including passenger doors, emergency doors and cargo doors. The Safety barrier is not stored on board the aircraft. It is installed by maintenance personnel and its reference can be found in the Tool and Equipment Manual (TEM) for each aircraft type.

To open a passenger door, the procedure and associated safety precautions listed in the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) or CCOM must be followed. A check that the Residual Pressure Warning System (RPWS) does not flash (fig.3) confirms that there is no residual air pressure in the cabin to avoid potential injuries or falls due to an unexpected violent opening of the passenger door. Refer to the Article “Residual Cabin Pressure” from the issue #3 of the Safety first magazine.

When approaching an open door whilst on board the aircraft, flight crew, cabin crew and ground personnel should confirm the presence and correct positioning of an aerobridge, stairs or access platform. If none are present, either close the door, if it is not necessary for the door to remain open or install the safety strap and monitor the open door until the stairs, access platform or gateway are put in place.

Inform anyone on the aircraft when ground personnel remove the aerobridge, stairs or access platform from the aircraft’s passenger door to ensure they are aware to not use that door to exit the aircraft. Then ensure the door is secured by either closing it, or installing a safety barrier prior to removing the stairs.

Working at height represents a common working situation for the maintenance staff with the risk of fall from the aircraft structure if the proper precautions are not followed. Falls can be from the aircraft’s external structure (wings, horizontal stabilizer) or with the aircraft’s internal structure including the non-pressurized section of the aft fuselage, landing gear bays, and the avionics bay. Several safety devices are available on Airbus aircraft and the AMM provides specific instructions and procedures that must be followed to prevent falls from height.

On Airbus aircraft, visible markings identify “NO STEP” areas. These are visible on the aircraft’s external structure on the wings (fig.4), and horizontal stabilizers. “NO STEP” zones are also marked on areas inside the aircraft where there are fuselage compartment access doors. Stepping on these areas is prohibited due to risks of falling and causing injury or damaging critical areas. A description of the “NO STEP” areas for each airbus aircraft can be found in the AMM.

As per AMM procedures, safety harness shall be used by maintenance personnel when working from height. The safety harness is composed of the harness itself and of a safety rope that has to be attached to suitable attachment point. Safety Harness’ condition is inspected regularly. A validity date is displayed on each harness. If the validity date is exceeded, the harness is considered unserviceable and must not be used.

List of attachment points

Several attachment points are available on the aircraft structure. They are listed in the AMM and are identifiable by a placard (fig.5).

When working on the wings, the AMM recommends the use of wingrip, which is a system used to attach the safety rope and harness with single or multiple moveable vacuum pads (fig.6). Installing and using a wingrip system must be done by specifically trained personnel. The associated procedure and safety recommendations are provided in the AMM.

Local safety policies apply in addition to safety devices provided by Airbus described in this article with their associated procedures and recommendations. Each airline, maintenance and repair organisation, airport or country defines its own safety policy in terms of prevention of injuries caused by falls from height. These policies will account for local conditions, regulations and constraints in addition to following all of the, warnings, cautions or recommendations provided in the relevant manuals and as described by this article.