Lead an aircraft turnaround on the ramp

What is going on

Flight SB201, the morning 34-seat service to Sydney, is due on bay 2 at Tamworth with 31 passengers, 28 bags and 140 kilograms of freight to load. The ramp team leader has asked you to lead the turnaround with him watching from the equipment restraint line. Belt loader GSE-T-04 has an intermittent reverse alarm and is serviceable with limitation, so a guide person is mandatory for every reversing movement. The Aircraft Turnaround and Ramp Safety Procedure sets the sequence from bay preparation and marshalling through loading to the final walk-around, and the turnaround must be recorded in the dispatch record. A recent ground damage event at Dubbo has made everyone alert to equipment approaching aircraft.

Your brief

Prepare the bay and brief the team, marshal the aircraft in and chock it, direct unloading and loading to the load sheet using equipment checked against the register, complete the final walk-around and dispatch the aircraft on time, and record the turnaround.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

• Read the Aircraft Turnaround and Ramp Safety Procedure and open the SB201 record in the Flight Movements and Dispatch system to confirm the bay, time and load.
• Check the baggage tug and belt loader records in the Ground Support Equipment Register, confirm the pre-use tags, and note the reverse alarm limitation on GSE-T-04.
• Complete the start of shift briefing on the Ramp Shift Handover and Toolbox Briefing Template, covering the load, the equipment limitation, the weather and personal protective equipment.
• Walk the bay for foreign object debris, position chocks, cones and equipment behind the restraint line, and marshal the aircraft onto the bay using standard signals.
• Direct the unloading and loading compartment by compartment to the load sheet, with a guide person for every reversing movement and nets and straps secured.
• Report any difference between the planned and actual load to the dispatch officer before the load sheet is finalised.
• Complete the final walk-around, confirm doors, hatches and chocks, marshal the aircraft off the bay and record the turnaround time in the dispatch record.
• Record any hazard or near miss observed during the turnaround in the Safety Reporting System.

What someone in this role would produce

• Completed shift briefing record
• Ground Support Equipment Register checks noted
• Updated SB201 dispatch record with turnaround time
• Any safety report lodged