Ground and ramp safety are paramount to all successful aircraft operations. Airport ramp accidents can derail success metrics, such as profit, environmental sustainability, and efficiency. The process to rectify these losses begins with a culture of accountability and safety automatically reinforced by an effective artificial intelligence tool, such as Synaptic Aviation.

The Dollar Cost of Airport Ramp Accidents

According to data compiled from several international airlines, the Flight Safety Foundation estimates that 27,000 ramp accidents and incidents occur globally each year. That amounts to one safety incident per 1,000 flights. The consequence of these incidents is airlines losing a whopping $10 billion per year. Much of these costs are related to flight cancellations, schedule disruptions, and maintenance costs, but they also incorporate medical expenses for worker injuries.

The largest concern is that many of these incidents do not meet the deductible threshold for insurance, which requires airlines to account for these costs out of pocket.

What Causes Ground Accidents?

To begin solving this issue, we must first determine the root causes behind these incidents. While the general cause tends to be human error, we have found that there are several specific factors that lead to airport ramp accidents:

• Violating ground safety procedures
• Disregarding worker fatigue
• Inadequate worker training
• High turnover rates for staff

Ramps contain a complex flurry of activity within a limited amount of space. Ground staff teams need to supply fuel, unload baggage, move cargo, and perform maintenance on aircraft in the same area.

While flight schedules often contain padding to try to account for delays, many delays occur due to preventable causes—and not solely due to uncontrollable factors, such as weather. A new approach is necessary: ground teams require more communication and accountability to get flights out on time. With this approach in mind, you can eliminate delays and become more efficient in your operations without the need to add bulk to your schedules.

How Does AI Mitigate Human Error?

Our Ramp Operations Optimization Tool (ROOT) covers several bases when it comes to preventing airport ramp accidents.

Track Unsafe Ground Crew Behaviors

Many unsafe behaviors result from worker fatigue. That is why AI acts as an additional pair of eyes to correct dangerous activities. From missing safety cones to FOD walks not conducted, our AI sends real-time alerts to team members and prompts them to correct their actions.

Promote Safe Aircraft Maneuvers

Many accidents occur due to aircrafts striking personnel or other objects on the ground, leading to injuries and airplane damage. Our AI tool can detect ramp obstacles and verify the presence of guide crews to promote safe aircraft driving. 

Valuable Crew Training

From arrival to departure, our computer vision technology captures details that are easy for ground crews to miss. Our AI cameras log events and record high-definition videos that get sent to a searchable database. Quickly and easily find videos to train your ground personnel and introduce a culture of safety.

Request a Demo Today

Resolving the root cause of your airport ramp accidents may seem complex, especially due to fast-paced work environments. Fortunately, our Ramp Operations Optimization Tool (ROOT) is easy to incorporate into your daily work schedules, largely because of its automated nature. Let us show you how simple and effective it can be to implement. Request a demo at synapticaviation.com or contact us at 844-505-4496.