A ground worker died on Monday evening after being struck by an Airbus A350 during a routine pushback at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport. The aircraft, operated by French Bee, was about to leave for Paris when the accident happened. Investigators are now looking into exactly what went wrong.
What safety questions does this accident raise for ground crews who work close to moving aircraft every day?
The accident happened at around 7:30 p.m. local time on Monday, 24 August, as flight BF5761 prepared to push back from its gate for a flight to Paris-Orly. A tug was pushing the wide-body jet away from the terminal when a ground worker fell onto the tarmac in front of the aircraft. Airport staff and emergency crews rushed to help him, and he was taken to hospital in critical condition. He died from his injuries a short time later.
The worker has been named as Oscar Robayo, 39. He worked for Samsic, a ground-handling company that Montréal–Trudeau Airport hires to help move aircraft, load bags, and guide planes on the ground. Robayo’s job was to act as a marshaller: someone who stands near an aircraft and uses hand signals or lights to help the pilots and the tug driver move it safely. Passengers on board the French Bee A350 watched the accident from their windows, and some later said they felt shaken by what they saw.
Officials have not yet said exactly why Robayo fell. Some early, unconfirmed reports suggest he may have gone down close to the nose landing gear just before the aircraft moved over him, but investigators say it is too soon to be sure. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has sent a team to the airport. They will look closely at how the pushback was planned, how the ground crew and cockpit talked to each other, and whether the ramp surface played any part in the fall.
Two other bodies have also opened cases. Canada’s federal Labour Program has started an investigation into Samsic under the Canada Labour Code, the law that protects workers’ safety on the job. A coroner in Quebec, Amélie Lavigne, will also investigate the case. Her report could lead to new recommendations for keeping ground workers safe around aircraft in the future.
The union that represents ground workers at the airport, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said it was working with Samsic and the airport to find out what happened. Its president, Dave Flowers, said that although accidents like this are rare, safety must always come first for workers who spend their shifts close to moving aircraft, tugs, and baggage vehicles. Pushback operations happen at almost every gate, several times a day, and usually go smoothly. This accident is now a reminder of how much can go wrong in just a few seconds when people work so close to a moving jet.
Check your understanding
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What was flight BF5761 doing when the accident happened?
The article says flight BF5761 “prepared to push back from its gate for a flight to Paris-Orly” when the worker fell, so this was a pushback, not a landing or take-off.
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Who did Oscar Robayo work for?
The article states Robayo “worked for Samsic, a ground-handling company” hired by the airport, a separate business from French Bee, the airline operating the flight.
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Why are three separate investigations now underway into this accident?
The article describes three separate bodies at work: the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (examining the pushback itself), the federal Labour Program (investigating Samsic under workplace-safety law), and a Quebec coroner (determining the cause of death), each covering a different angle of the same accident.
Key vocabulary:
- pushback (noun) – the act of using a tug to push an aircraft backward, away from the gate, before it moves under its own power. Typical use: “prepared to push back from its gate.”
- ground-handling company (noun phrase) – a business that airports and airlines hire to move aircraft on the ground, load luggage, and support planes between flights. Typical use: “a ground-handling company that the airport hires.”
- marshaller (noun) – a ground worker who guides an aircraft’s movement using hand signals or lights. Typical use: “act as a marshaller.”
- tarmac (noun) – the paved area of an airport where aircraft park, are serviced, and move between the gate and the runway. Typical use: “fell onto the tarmac.”
- coroner (noun) – an official who investigates the cause of a sudden or unexplained death. Typical use: “a coroner in Quebec will also investigate the case.”
CEFR Level B1 / ICAO Level 4
To read about another ground-level aviation tragedy and the investigation that followed, see our article on the Frontier jet that killed a man on a Denver runway.
