Emirates A332 at Dubai on Oct 23rd 2014, flight attendant injured during taxi

Last Update: March 17, 2016 / 16:48:59 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Emirates Airlines A6-EKR, Airbus A330-200 — Emirates Airlines A6-EKR, Airbus A330-200 (Photo credit: Faisal Akram Ether / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Oct 23, 2014

Classification
Report

Airline
Emirates Airlines

Flight number
EK-539

Departure
Ahmedabad, India

Destination
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Aircraft Registration
A6-EKR

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-200

ICAO Type Designator
A332

An Emirates Airlines Airbus A330-200, registration A6-EKR performing flight EK-539 from Ahmedabad (India) to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) with 274 passengers and 14 crew, had completed a safe landing on Dubai's runway 30L. While taxiing towards the gate on taxiway K the senior flight attendant, seated near door R4, got up to assume her duties as checker for door L2 but stopped at the business galley to fetch her uniform hat. In the meantime the aircraft had reached taxiway Z and shut down the right hand engine, a short time later after moving about 20 meters the flight crew applied hard brakes (slowing the aircraft from 14 to 4 knots over ground in 4 seconds) to avoid overshooting the final turn into the stand. The flight attendant lost balance and fell into the business galley making contact with the galley worktop surface before falling to the floor. The flight attendant sustained serious injuries to her neck and back.

The United Arab Emirates GCAA released their final report concluding the probable cause of the accident was:

The Air Accident Investigation Sector determines that the cause of this Accident was:

The cabin crewmember left her jump seat before the final turn onto the parking stand, and before the Flight Crew announced: “Cabin Crew, Prepare all doors and cross check”.

Contributing Factors

The Air Accident Investigation Sector determines that contributing factors to this Accident were:

The sudden firm braking action causing the cabin crewmember to lose her balance and fall.

The GCAA analysed: "When the Aircraft reached taxiway Zulu, the captain requested that the No. 2 engine be shut-down in accordance with SOPs and continued taxiing using the No. 1 engine. Whilst the flight crew were conducting the engine shutdown procedure and while completing the checklist, the aircraft main landing gear came abeam of the centreline of parking bay Golf 2 when the final turn onto the stand was required. The captain applied firm braking in order to avoid overshooting the parking bay stand. This led to a deceleration of the aircraft from 14 knots to 4 knots within four seconds. ... The time taken by the aircraft to travel this distance was sufficient to complete the engine shutdown procedure. However, the transition from completing the checklist and commencing to turn the aircraft turn was short and this required the captain to apply firm braking to make the final turn. The flight crew’s situational awareness of the turn onto the Golf 2 bay may have been compromised by the time constraint imposed by the short taxi distance, the speed of the aircraft and carrying out the engine shutdown procedure. Although, the application of the braking caused the SCCM to lose her balance and fall, the investigation believes that, the firm braking may be considered as a contributing factor, and not the direct cause of this event, and the Accident most likely would not have happened had the SCCM stayed seated until the aircraft completed the final turned onto the parking bay."

The GCAA analysed: "On this aircraft type, the jump seat for the business class SCCM is located next to the R4 door main jump seat. The SCCM is responsible for adopting the role of the door checker for the L2 door, prior to opening. At the time of the event, the SCCM was required to walk from their position at the aft of the aircraft during taxi in. This enabled them to reach the door prior to passengers leaving their seats and blocking the aisle, preventing access to the door. The injured SCCM had left her seat before the final turn and moved from the aft economy galley towards the forward economy galley to perform the nominated duty of door checker for the L2 door while the Aircraft was taxiing. The crewmember carried out this action to ensure that she would be able to reach the L2 door while the aisles were still clear of passengers. Had the SCCM not left her seat it is likely that she would not have been able to assume her safety function at the L2 door. However, prior to reaching the L2 door, the cabin crewmember walked past the R2 door, into the business class galley, to retrieve her uniform hat from the R1 station coat closet stowage. The practice of cabin crewmembers leaving their seats during taxi, to reposition at their assigned doors, before the final turn onto the parking stand, and before the Flight Crew announce: “Cabin Crew, Prepare all doors and cross check”, was an established cabin crew action which was not in accordance with the operators SOPs, or cabin manuals."

With respect to shoes the GCAA analysed: "However, the practice of female cabin crew changing from their high heeled/medium option shoes to their cabin shoes once released after take-off and then again, from their cabin shoes to their high heeled/medium option shoes prior to descent/landing became an accepted procedure. With this accepted practice of shoe changing, the operator did not risk assess and provide mitigating advisory actions concerning CCMs walking through the aircraft cabin during taxi, while wearing high heeled/medium shoes."