FEDEX HUB EMPLOYEE SUFFERS FATAL INJURY

A FedEx Corp. material handler died Wednesday at the Regional Medical Center after at least the third fatal industrial accident in 14 years at the massive freight hub in Memphis.

Unconfirmed reports from hub employees said the victim was crushed while loading packages on a cargo jet near the end of FedEx’s nightly package-sorting operation.

FedEx employee Chandler Warren, 19, was fatally injured in an accident on the ramp, the outdoor area where planes are loaded and unloaded, FedEx spokesman Jim McCluskey said.

The accident was under investigation, he said, noting no further details were available from the company.

The Memphis Fire Department said the victim was transported to the Regional Medical Center at 2:53 a.m.

The hospital confirmed Warren died there early Wednesday morning.

“All I know is he was working for FedEx and basically in the middle of unloading something, that somehow there was an accident and something dropped on him and kind of crushed him,” said Jamie Merritt, a former student pastor of Warren’s family in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Merritt said he learned of Warren’s death from a mutual friend, but he hadn’t spoken directly with the family.

Merritt remembered Warren as a “great guy, always with a smile on his face, every kid knew him and loved him.”

Merritt knew Warren when the family attended Sunrise Baptist Church in Lawrenceville two or three years ago.

In Memphis, the FedEx Express world hub loads and unloads about 250 cargo jets that converge on Memphis International Airport each night from as far away as Asia and Europe.

It took more than 12 hours for the company to confirm the victim’s identity. McCluskey said FedEx wanted to consult with the family before releasing information.

“It’s certainly a tragic day for us and we grieve for the families and our prayers and wishes are with them,” McCluskey said.

McCluskey said he wasn’t sure what agencies are investigating alongside FedEx.

The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigates workplace safety issues in Tennessee.

Fatal accidents are rare, but not unheard of at FedEx.

The freight carrier, which operates air and truck divisions, employs about 300,000 workers worldwide including 30,000 in Memphis, where the hub accounts for about 10,000 jobs.

Records from the U.S. Occupational Health & Safety Administration, which investigate workplace-related incidents, show a Jan. 22, 2011 accident at the Memphis hub.

It resulted in a tug operator’s death three weeks later. OSHA said the employee died of complications from a knee injury sustained in a fall from his tug.

The Commercial Appeal reported in May 2000 that a 55-year-old mechanic was killed while working on a vehicle.

That death was the third fatal workplace accident in the Memphis hub’s history. It was opened in 1973.

In contrast, 17 fatal occupational injuries were reported by employers in metropolitan Memphis in 2012, the most recent year for which data is provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Tennessee OSHA investigated 33 workplace fatalities throughout the state in 2012, up from 27 in 2011.

Wednesday’s incident follows another fatal accident for FedEx.

In April, a FedEx Freight vehicle collided with a tour bus in Northern California, killing the driver of the tractor-trailer and at least nine other people.

Authorities said the tractor-trailer crossed over a grassy median on Interstate 5 and hit an oncoming bus carrying high school students on a college visit.

At the time, government data showed that FedEx Corp.’s trucking unit, FedEx Freight, had a better driving record than more than 99 percent of U.S. trucking companies over the past two years.

Separately on Wednesday, a FedEx airline made an emergency landing at Nashville International Airport about 5 a.m. after a report of smoke in the cockpit.

FedEx spokeswoman Gretchen Mathis said an MD-10 aircraft flying from Memphis to Manchester, New Hampshire landed safely, and there were no injuries to the crew.

The company is working with authorities to investigate this incident.

 

Let's not play lip service to safety at any level

Thoughts and prayers with his family and friends

 

I think many of us who came out of the reflective belt, hard hat, flight line driver training, safety glove world of the military…especially the Air Force, are shocked when they first see the organized chaos at the MEM hub. In fact, maybe it is safer than it looks, and maybe the folks are extremely well trained, but it sure seems scary at times. I am surprised it does not happen more often. Thoughts and prayers to all involved...

 

My very first night sort preflight in Memphis I was hit (more like brushed) in the arm by a tug train doing 20+ as I was looking up at the tail-cone. I was an inch from being crushed and that has set the tone for my preflights from then on. Here at the Cologne base, all of the F/O's have to wear the reflective vest for preflight (airport rules not FedEx) at every single European airport we fly from. The vest police keep a close watch and the fine can be as much as 50 euros.

 

The only pilot ever killed on duty at Seaboard World was B747 Captain walking out to the airplane in Frankfurt. Run over by a loader used to handle the 8'x8'x20' containers.

 

First my thoughts and prayers are with the 19 year old and his family.

Are these vest made of titanium or Kevlar, how big a loader will they stop?

 

Thoughts and prayers for the loss of a 19 year old man's life.

 

+1! Very sad, indeed.

 

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Mr. Chandler Warren. What's simply amazing is that with all the vehicular traffic at that facility during the AM sort, that people aren't being killed on a nightly basis. They must be doing something right. When we were in the old operations building I used to walk to the buffeteria with my head on a swivel and was still scared $hitless about getting hit.

 

+1

Walking and/or driving on the MEM ramp is scarier than any flight I've ever had in 40 years of slipping the surly bonds. I try not to look out the crew bus windows.