Originally Posted by
FAYEV
Evening all. I would just like to say that I, as a ramper, appreciate the hard work and crap you guys go through, and the friendliness and professionalism that you guys deliver to us on a regular basis.
There are some bad apples out there, and to them, I would just like to ask that you please respect the safety of your rampers. It is unacceptable, dangerous, childish and negligent to turn out from a parking space, point your tail towards your rampers and deliver an unusually high amount of thrust (causing the gate agents upstairs to come to the window wondering what was going on), simply because you were wrong about the max which was in plain English on the release that you held in your hands. You blew away our maintenance steps, our bag scanner, almost toppled our carry-on cart, almost tore off half of our raggedy and vacant jetbridge, and worst of all, very nearly picked up one of our rampers and threw him across the ramp.
I understand why you guys can get angry and frustrated, I don't blame you. But please do not let your frustrations cause you to neglect safety. Can't we all just get along?
I'm sorry for the rant...just needed to get it out.
As a former chock monkey, and I use that term with great affection, I feel you brotha'. I once watched a carry-on cart "rotate" off the ramp and bounce off the side of a jetbridge 8 feet AGL, almost cutting one of our octagenarian veterans in half as a result of 200 jetblast and a ham fisted Capt. Thank God the old fella ate his Wheeties that morning, or it might have been really ugly. If you've ever moved one, you know how heavy those things are, it's no easy feat to get it off the ground. I've seen this happen
way more than it should, and no matter the reason, if there are living, breathing human beings behind you, there's never an excuse for it. I think the idea of a pre-departure brief is an excellent one, and should be explored further.