Aviation firm fined GBP160,000 after worker crushed to death at Heathrow Airport by baggage container

An aviation firm has been fined GBP160,000 after a beloved father was crushed to death at Heathrow Airport while unloading baggage containers from a plane. The man, who has not been named, was working at Terminal 3 for Dnata Ltd which provides ground handling and cargo services to major airlines, when the tragedy happened on the night of February 23, 2022. He has been described by his family as “loving, supportive dad” who adored his job. His grieving wife said she now faces life without her “best friend and companion”, while his children say counselling has been unable to “heal the pain that [they] feel”. The man had taken a set of trailers to a stand on the Tarmac at Heathrow, ready to collect baggage containers which were being unloaded from the hold of an Emirates Airbus A380, which had arrived from Dubai. He moved one of the trailers under a scissor lift known as a high-loader, which was being used to bring the containers to ground level. The high-loader operator simultaneously lowered one of its platforms, which was holding containers ready to be collected, crushing the employee who died of his injuries. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the high-loader operators’ rear visibility, of the area where the containers were lowered, was “almost completely obscured”. The high-loader had no sensors, to detect if people were underneath raised platforms before they were lowered. There was also no communication system in place, so operators could be told when it was safe for them to lower platforms.<br/>