National Academies Press: OpenBook

Ramp Safety Practices (2011)

Chapter: Glossary of Terms

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Page 36
Suggested Citation:"Glossary of Terms." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Ramp Safety Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14599.
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Suggested Citation:"Glossary of Terms." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Ramp Safety Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14599.
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Suggested Citation:"Glossary of Terms." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Ramp Safety Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14599.
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Page 38

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36 Above wing: Ground support services such as cabin clean- ing and catering that take place above the wing. Accident: FAA System Safety Definition: An unplanned fortuitous event that results in harm; i.e., loss, fatality, injury, system loss. The specific type and level of harm must be defined; the worst case severity that can be expected as the result of the specific event under study. Various contributory hazards can result in a single accident. Aircraft accident: An occurrence associated with the oper- ation of an aircraft, which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the air- craft suffers substantial damage. Aircraft damage: Any damage or adverse condition that affects the structural strength, performance, or flight char- acteristics of an aircraft or causes a delay in flight opera- tions owing to repairs. Aircraft operation: Operation of an aircraft with the intent of flight. Air Operations Area (AOA): Any area of an airport used or intended to be used for landing, takeoff, or surface maneu- vering of aircraft. An air operations area includes such paved areas or unpaved areas that are used or intended to be used for the unobstructed movement of aircraft in addi- tion to its associated runway, taxiways, or apron. Airport Movement Area (AMA): Controlled by the FAA’s Air Traffic organization; typically runways and taxiways. Airside: All activities that take place on the movement and non-movement areas of an airport (as compared with ter- minal or landside). Apron: The part of an airport, other than the maneuvering area intended to accommodate the loading and unloading of pas- sengers and cargo; the refueling, servicing, maintenance, and parking of aircraft; and any movement of aircraft, vehi- cles, and pedestrians necessary for such purposes. Vehicles, aircraft, and people using the apron are referred to as apron traffic. Apron is typically used in Europe and in the United States it is referred to as the “Ramp.” ASDE-X: Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X) is a sophisticated, airport surface detection tech- nology. ASDE-X integrates data from a variety of sources, including radars and aircraft transponders, to give controllers a more reliable view of airport operations. Controllers in the tower see the aircraft on a continuously updated color dis- play map and are able to spot potential collisions. ASDE-X capabilities will be added to many of the sites that already have AMASS (Airport Movement Area Safety System), as well as other busy airports. ASDE-X enables air traffic controllers to detect potential runway conflicts by providing detailed coverage of movement on runways and taxiways. By collecting data from a variety of sources, ASDE-X is able to track vehicles and aircraft on the airport movement area and obtain identification information from aircraft transponders. Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS): A voluntary program administered by NASA that receives, processes, and analyzes reports of unsafe occurrences and hazardous situations that are voluntarily submitted by pilots, air traf- fic controllers, and others. Information collected by the ASRS is used to identify hazards and safety discrepancies in the National Airspace System. It is also used to formu- late policy and to strengthen the foundation of aviation human factors safety research. Below wing: Ground support services such as fueling, bag- gage handling, etc., that take place below the wing. Causes: Actions, omissions, events, conditions, or a combi- nation thereof that lead to the accident or incident; also, events that result in a hazard or failure. Causes can occur by themselves or in combinations. Circle of safety: At the gate or parking location, painted lines resembling an enlarged outline of an aircraft typi- cally define the circle of safety. Common use or shared-use gates: Airlines share the use of gates in coordination with airport management and other air carriers providing services at the airport. Effect: The potential outcome or harm of the hazard if it occurs in the defined system state. Equipment damage: Any damage or adverse condition that limits or prevents the use of mobile aircraft handling equip- ment or requires repairs. Exclusive use gates: Airlines lease airport gates for only their use. Typically, airports use preferential use gates at which airlines have preferred use, but if the airline is not using the gate, other airlines can access the gate. Facility damage: Any damage or adverse condition that lim- its or prevents the use of a fixed aircraft handling facility or requires repairs. Finding: A condition, supported by objective evidence, which demonstrates nonconformance with a specific standard. Foreign object debris/damage (FOD): Any object that does not belong in or near airplanes and, as a result, can injure airport or airline personnel and damage airplanes. Airports, airlines, and airport tenants can reduce this cost GLOSSARY OF TERMS

37 by taking steps to prevent airport FOD. FOD encompasses a wide range of material, including loose hardware, pave- ment fragments, catering supplies, building materials, rocks, pieces of luggage, and even wildlife. Ground incident: An occurrence not associated with the operation of an aircraft, causing injury that does not require professional medical attention, or minor damage to an air- craft or other equipment. Ground operations: The department, company, or vendor responsible for all ground (ramp) operations. Ground Service Equipment (GSE): The support equip- ment found at an airport, usually on the ramp or the ser- vicing area by the terminal. This equipment is used to ser- vice the aircraft between flights. As its name implies, GSE is there to support the operations of aircraft on the ground. The functions that this equipment plays generally involve ground power operations, aircraft mobility, and loading operations (for both cargo and passengers). Ground Service Provider (GSP): Ground crew members include: • Airframe and power plant technicians • Avionics technicians • Baggage handlers • Rampers (ramp workers) • Gate agents • Ticket agents • Passenger service agents (such as airline lounge employees) • Flight dispatchers. Hazard: Any real or potential condition that can cause injury, illness, or death to people; damage to or loss of a system, equipment, or property; or damage to the environ- ment. A hazard is a condition that is a prerequisite to an accident or incident. Human factors: Human factors involves gathering informa- tion about human abilities, limitations, and other charac- teristics and applying it to tools, machines, systems, tasks, jobs, and environments to produce safe, comfortable, and effective human use. In aviation, human factors is the study and application to better understand how humans can most safely and efficiently be integrated with the tech- nology. That understanding is then translated into design, training, policies, or procedures to help humans perform better. Incident: “An occurrence other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of operations.” Injury: Any condition that requires medical assistance, including first aid. Injury (fatal): Any injury that results in death within 30 days of the incident/accident. Investigation: A process conducted for the purpose of acci- dent or incident prevention that includes the gathering and analysis of information; the drawing of conclusions, includ- ing the determination of causes and, when appropriate, the making of safety recommendations. Jet bridge: A passenger loading bridge (also termed loading bridge, aerobridge/airbridge, jetway, passenger walkway, or passenger boarding bridge) is an enclosed, movable connector that extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, allowing passengers to board and disembark with- out having to go outside. Depending on building design, sill heights, fueling positions, and operational requirements it may be fixed or movable, swinging radially or extending in length. Movement area: The runways, taxiways, and other areas of an airport that are used for taxiing or hover taxiing, air taxiing, takeoff, and landing of aircraft, exclusive of load- ing ramps and aircraft parking areas (14 CFR 139.3). NextGen: Next Generation Air Transportation System is an FAA initiative to overhaul the national airspace system to make air travel more convenient and dependable, while ensuring that flights are as safe, secure, and hassle-free as possible. Non-movement area: The non-movement area consists of aircraft gates, the terminal, cargo facilities, hardstands, taxi lanes, the perimeter roads, and the vehicle drive lanes. This area is also referred to as the ramp, apron, or tarmac. Both aircraft and ground vehicles move on the non-movement area. Obstacle free zone: The obstacle-free zone is a three- dimensional volume of airspace set up to protect aircraft transitioning to and from the runway. Passenger loading bridge: See Jet bridge Personal protective equipment (PPE): Equipment for pro- tecting the eyes, face, head, ears, extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices, and protective shields. Preferential use gates: See Exclusive use gates. Property damage: Any damage or adverse condition that limits or prevents the use of a structure or building or that requires repairs. Ramp: see Apron. Risk: The composite of predicted severity and likelihood of the potential effect of a hazard in the worst credible system state. Types of risk include: a. Identified risk: That risk that has been determined to exist using analytical tools. The time and costs of analysis efforts, the quality of the risk management program, and the state of the technology involved affect the amount of risk that can be identified. b. Unidentified risk: That risk that has not yet been iden- tified. Some risk is not identifiable or measurable, but is no less important. Mishap investigations may reveal some previously unidentified risks. c. Total risk: The sum of identified and unidentified risk. Ideally, identified risk will comprise the larger portion of the two. d. Acceptable risk: The part of identified risk that is allowed to persist after controls are applied. Risk can be deter- mined acceptable when further efforts to reduce it would cause degradation of the probability of success of the operation, or when a point of diminishing returns has been reached.

38 e. Unacceptable risk: The portion of identified risk that cannot be tolerated, but must be either eliminated or controlled. f. Residual risk: The remaining safety risk that exists after all control techniques have been implemented or exhausted, and all controls have been verified. Only verified controls can be used for the assessment of residual-safety risk. Root Cause Analysis: A systematic approach to identifying, investigating, categorizing, and eliminating the root causes of safety-related incidents. Safety: A condition in which the risk of harm or damage is limited to an acceptable level. Safety Management System (SMS): A formal, top-down business-like approach to managing safety risk. It includes systematic procedures, practices, and policies for the man- agement of safety. It also includes safety risk management, safety policy, safety assurance, and safety promotion. Tarmac: see Apron. Unit load devices (ULDs): Standardized cargo container to enable individual pieces of cargo to be assembled into a standard-size unit to facilitate efficient loading and unloading of aircraft having compatible handling and re- straint systems. ULDs are primarily used on wide body aircraft. Work-related injury or illness: An injury or illness that is caused by an event or exposure in the work environment that either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness. Work relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses resulting from events or exposures occurring in the work environment.

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TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Synthesis 29: Ramp Safety Practices addresses the current state of ground handling practices, focusing on safety measures and training.

Issues addressed in the report include ramp safety operations, staff roles and responsibilities, safety training, audit and inspection programs, safety violation programs, and collaborative safety initiatives, such as foreign object debris programs.

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