Plane runs over man’s foot at Gatwick Airport

Kaliningrad, Russia - February 22, 2018: Rossiya airlines Aeroflot airplane at the airport Khrabrovo

A baggage handler employed by Dnata has been seriously injured after a Russia bound plane ran over his foot at Gatwick Airport last Wednesday.

Passengers were confused as moments before takeoff the Rossiya plane halted and emergency services surrounded the area.

The man, who was directing traffic on the runway, became trapped under the wheel of the aircraft until freed by ambulance crews.

A South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: “The patient, an adult male, had suffered a serious lower limb injury and after treatment by our crews at the scene, was transported by Air Ambulance to St George’s Hospital at Tooting.”

As per Fox News, a representative for Aeroflot, the airline that owns Rossiya, issued a statement claiming the incident occurred due to a “serious infringement of safety regulations” on the Dnata employee’s part.

“As the A319 operating flight FV6620 from London Gatwick to St. Petersburg on 28 March was pushing back before takeoff, there was a serious infringement of safety regulations by an employee of Dnata, the local ground service company.”

“As a result, the Dnata employee’s leg became trapped under the moving wheel of the aircraft, causing him an injury.”

“The trapped employee was freed using non-standard equipment, and as a result, the aircraft suffered light damage requiring additional repair work.”

“The aircraft was temporarily removed from operations.”

According to News.com, passengers on the flight were held aboard for two hours before being allowed to deplane.

Cabin crew informed passengers on what had happened according to Twitter user Flora Lu, who was onboard at the time.

Twitter screenshot - user Flora Lu

“Cabin crew just confirmed our plane ran over the foot of ground crew member. Hope he’ll be ok. Waiting for extra plane “parts” as the plane is not operational now,” she said.

Passengers were provided with local accommodation while a reserve plane was organised to transport them to St. Petersburg on Thursday.

Dnata has confirmed that the injured employee has now been discharged from hospital and an investigation has since been opened into the incident.

Latest News