Family of cargo handler who died in accident to petition Boeing for better safety measures
James Cox
The family of a cargo handler who died after a fall at Dublin Airport in 2018 have expressed their hope that safety features will be improved.
Richard Gracey (64) of Balbriggan, Co Dublin, was unloading cargo from a plane on November 24th, 2018, when he fell headfirst five metres to the ground and suffered fatal injuries.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the main deck loader, a moving platform for unloading cargo, was 2.7 metres away from the aircraft door when Mr Gracey fell and that this gap should have been no more than three inches.
Swissport Ireland Limited was fined €250,000 in March 2023 after the company itted to failing to ensure the safety and welfare of people at work on the morning in question.
Mr Gracey and six other employees had been unloading an Air cargo Boeing 777, which had arrived from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
A verdict of a workplace-related fatality was returned by a jury of eight women and one man at an inquest into the death of Mr Gracey at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday.
The family believe that there is a manufacturing/design flaw with Boeing 777 airplanes in that cargo handlers are placed at risk of falling from a height once the cargo door is opened.
In their view, the best way to protect cargo handlers from falling from a height is to have a strong safety net in place with at least 6-8 fixed points, with sufficient strength to hold the weight of a worker should they fall.
At present, all such aircraft just have a 'visibility strap' across the door, which is insufficient to prevent a worker from falling out the door should they lose their balance.
Richard's sons Kevin and Aaron, and nephew David, spoke to BreakingNews.ie the day before the inquest.
Aaron said: "The unexpected phone call that nobody wants to get. You assume your loved one, your husband, father, grandfather, can go to work and be safe, so it was just a normal Saturday when mum got a phone call that he had been in an accident, and to prepare herself.
"She rang me. I was on my way to the house, and we ended up going to Beaumont Hospital. It was there that we found out, talking to the ambulance men, that he was gone; that was a shock.
"My brother Kevin lives in New Zealand. Luckily the rest of us live in the country, but it was a case of how do we get everyone here without saying what had happened and how do we tell Kevin."
Kevin is an aircraft engineer who works for Air New Zealand.
Recalling hearing the news of his father's death, he said: "For us as a family, it's the length of time this has been going on, and it's the lack of information that we can get about the accident. It's been six and a half years now and we're just getting the inquest.
"Because it was a work-related accident, the HSA [Health and Safety Authority] took over the investigation and took a criminal case against Swissport. We weren't privy to any information about the investigation, they couldn't tell us anything, so we were left in the dark until very recently.
"Three weeks ago, we actually got my dad's postmortem report. That hit my mum hard because there's always the thought of 'did he have a medical event? Did something happen?', but the autopsy came back, and there were no medical problems. It was the fall and landing on his head that killed him. Not knowing was hard."
He added: "Swissport said they have modified their standard operating procedures, but on the day, the platform wasn't in the position that is standard operating procedure. We got their SOP and Air 's from the HSA after the investigation, and it was fraught with errors.
"It was unbelievable that it was produced liked that and audited regularly, Air did an audit about a month before the accident and found no issues.
"In my own experience, working in airports around the world, what happened that day was normal. I've multiple videos from YouTube that show the doors open, the sills deployed, then the loader comes into place. The loader may even be reversed to adjust into position after the sills are deployed."
He believes the accident occurred on a normal day, emphasising the need for additional safety measures.
'Visual warning strap'
"The aircraft came into service in 2009 and it had a net, called a 'personnel safety barrier'. This has happened numerous times around the world, with people falling from cargo decks on Boeing aircraft. Their 'fix' was they put a warning on this net and changed its name, calling it a 'visual warning strap'.
"Boeing changed the name of the net from personnel safety barrier, and now called it a visual warning strap without any additional features.
"If they don't call it a safety barrier, then it's not their responsibility if someone falls. It says in their own documents that people were falling out of the aircraft with this thing up, it's not as if it fell down like in my dad's situation.
"Air modified their aircraft in 2011 to the warning strap.
"That's what we're trying to change. It is only attached at four points, and if one fails, it lies on the ground and is useless.
"I have pictures of Boeing aircraft, military versions, that have a proper safety net attached at six points so a single point of failures won't render the net useless, it will still have some restraining functionality.
"As a family, we just don't want this happening ever again. It's such a global practice that happens thousands of times a day around the world on these Boeing aircraft."
US Federal Aviation Authority
The family now plans to petition the US Federal Aviation Authority, the organisation which has jurisdiction over Boeing's manufacturing in the United States.
Aaron added: "Accidents do happen, human error occurs, but if there is a physical restraint put in by Boeing, that can stop it happening to someone else."
Richard's grandson David said: "We've been focused on trying to make sure grandpa's death wasn't meaningless, it didn't happen with nothing coming from it. We're aligned in our aim of a bringing a positive outcome from this."
In a statement after the inquest, the family said: "Richard was a loving husband, beloved father of five and a fantastic grandfather of nine, one of which he never got to meet. Richard had been working at the airport for 14 years, a job which he loved.
"It's been a very long 6 and a half years to reach the point of closure with this process. We have had numerous visits to solicitors and court rooms and only recently have we been privy to the details of Richard’s fatal accident. We were outraged to learn of the details that
led to Richard’s death, from the failures of Swissport and Air in maintaining and upholding a safe work environment.
"His colleagues, his 'Ramp family', have also had to endure this traumatic and devastating time with no knowledge or closure. We feel this drawn out justice system is unfair and uncomionate.
"We believe the fine imposed upon Swissport, who plead guilty, in the Criminal Court was minimal for a multinational global organisation. We do not feel the fine imposed was reflective of the seriousness of Swissports failures to ensure Richard, and all of his colleagues, worked in a safe environment, with appropriate procedures of work in place.
"From the very beginning of this process, our family has been determined to ensure that Richard’s death ultimately leads to change to prevent this from happening to another family. We are disappointed that the Coroner and Jury did not put forward any recommendations to Boeing to introduce a safety net on the Boeing triple 777F, and across all their cargo aircraft."
