Originally Posted by JohnBurke

Most parts of the globe, ground personnel won't approach the aircraft if the beacon is on. Pretty much anywhere on the planet, in any type of aircraft, including most third and fourth world smoke holes.

It's disingenuous to suggest a ramper with only five days might not know better. The use of the beacon to warn of aircraft operation has been in effect since the advent of turbine engines. This is not a new concept. Fast hands kill; rushing to do anything in aviation is usually a bad choice, with a potential fatal outcome; this case no different. The first thing anyone on the ramp should be taught, from hour .01 of their new career, is basic ramp safety.

That said, I've had personnel walk past engines while running, taxi behind me when powering up, simply walk away when being marshalled into a gate, frequently looking the other way and not at me during an arrival to the gate, and I've had to sit with an engine running for an hour (+) before ground power showed up when no APU was available. I've had ground crew disconnect external power before I decoupled it, resulting in a large arc and bang when they pulled the plug.

A friend, who flew hercs at the time, had a station manager who made a habit of opening the crew entrance door before the aircraft was shut down, and after multiple warnings, one day the crew left half an inch or so of pressure, and the door flattened him when he opened...never made that mistake again. I've seen ramp personnel start fueling, tie off the deadman switch, and walk away. Start loading aircraft without crew coordination resulting in nearly dropping the airplane on its tail. Pull chocks without authorization. Open doors with engines running.

The potential is always for unfortunate, but predictable results. This case, no different.

The excuse or reason for ignoring the beacon really doesn't matter, because the result is the same. It doesn't matter if someone was trying to get baggage quickly, or didn't know the APU was inoperative, or thought the left vs. right engine was shut down, or was trying to look good for the boss; the result is the same here, and the commonality to all is the beacon. It's there for a reason. As noted above, the possibility that the beacon was inoperative or turned off exists. Not every location jacks in and greets the crew on the intercom, and it's possible the ICS was broken, etc. Perhaps local tribal convention is to listen for the engines and then rush in, but if that's a practice despite the beacon, it's a damn foolish one. There are a lot of parts of the world where I did't get the beacon right away and everybody stood back and refused to approach, until that beacon went off...it's a worldwide convention.. Certainly there are stations that don't answer the radio, don't communicate, and even with an in-range call, still seem to be completely unaware a flight is coming, start running when "surprised" by the arrival. We've all seen it. I once had some dingbat wearing a hard-hat with a big flashing beacon on top at a government facility meet me at the ramp entrance, then run backward in a skip (try to do that, just try), while waving wants, for three quarters of a mile, until we arrived at the parking spot...with big radials turning everywhere. Once had a guy try to walk through the prop from the rear, between the fuselage and propeller of a large radial, to inform me about my aircraft type...and he had the wrong type. Nearly got him. All kinds of stupid pet tricks...but the bottom line is we have a beacon; the practice has been in use for a very long time now, and it's universal. There is literally no excuse for not waiting until the airplane is shut down,, regardless of pressure to turn airplanes, local tradition, etc. Bad habits kill.