AHM 913
The 411 on 913
Safety is king. With that in mind, is the US GSE industry preparing itself for a more
rigorous modus operandi? Alwyn Brice investigates.
When IATA brought out its revised
Airport Handling Manual,
amongst other items, Chapter
9 was of significant interest. The rubric
contained therein recommended that by
July 2018, new beltloaders would have
some sort of anti-collision technology
installed, to render them safer to use on
the ramp. New cargo loaders, passenger
stairs and catering trucks would also
require additional safety features in due
course. Looking further ahead, July 2020
was mooted as the date that pre-existing
beltloaders would need to be retrofitted
with safety devices. All of which raises the
question: is this a mandatory requirement
- or simply wishful thinking?
Steve Savage is IATA’s Senior Analyst
- Ground Operations, Airport, Passenger,
Cargo and Security, and he is at pains
to point out that the Airport Handling
Manual is basically a set of recommended
practices and industry standards.
“Therefore,” he states, “AHM 913 is not
mandatory anywhere unless, for example,
an airline or ground service provider
decides to make the provisions of AHM
913 mandatory for equipment they wish
to purchase, or for equipment used in the
performance of services to be rendered.
“That said, the AHM recommends
that the provisions of AHM 913 and
other AHM sections be followed as a
means of ensuring equipment can safely
perform the necessary operations without
damaging the aircraft and injuring the
personnel. Our experience, based on
feedback from members of our technical
groups, is that the majority of equipment
providers whose equipment would be
covered by AHM 913 are able to provide
equipment that conforms with the criteria.
They report that an increasing number
of their clients are ordering equipment
that complies with the provisions.
Equipment users are also reporting a
significant drop in the number of incidents
involving equipment as they phase in the
new equipment. In some cases, they are
reporting that they have no incidents that
involve AHM 913 compliant equipment.
“Furthermore – although our Ground
Damage Database is not currently set
up to specifically report on compliant
equipment – an informal analysis of
several of the six monthly statistics
reports “Comments” section reveals a
number of “near miss” or very “minor”
incidents in which the equipment cut
out or stopped as designed; and that no
damage was caused. It is very difficult to
assess this properly because incidents
averted due to properly functioning
equipment systems are exactly that – an
averted incident, which means no incident
to report, and thus no report!
“In conclusion, it would seem then
that the AHM 913 provisions are having a
positive impact on the industry.”
The recommendations were global in
scope and there has been a lot of activity
around Europe in connection with the
attachment of safety devices to GSE. But is
this situation mirrored in the US?
To a degree, the short answer is yes.
According to Textron’s VP Global Sales
& Marketing, Brad Compton, the push
towards safety has primarily been on the
part of the airlines. “They are becoming
more and more proactive in this area,” he
told REN. “Because of this, we are a doing
From cameras and sensors to basic
guard rails: every device can help
24 February – March 2019 RAMP EQUIPMENT NEWS