Probe opens after taxiing Ural A320 runs over ground worker at Ekaterinburg

Russian investigators have opened an inquiry after an aircraft struck and seriously injured a ground worker as it started taxiing at Ekaterinburg’s Koltsovo airport. The Airbus A320, operated by Ural Airlines, had been conducting a service from Ekaterinburg to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, on 19 May. “When beginning to move, the forward landing-gear hit the legs of an aircraft-release technician,” says the Sverdlovsk transport prosecutor’s office. It states that the worker – an employee of Ural Airlines – received serious injuries and was hospitalised as a result. Surveillance video circulating on social media, purporting to show the event, indicates the aircraft had been stationary with the worker standing beneath the nose and around 2m ahead of the nose-gear. The aircraft stops a few moments after striking the worker. Flight U62985 subsequently departed 3h 24min behind schedule. Preliminary information indicates that the A320 involved was registered RA-73832. Investigators have initiated a criminal probe into the occurrence, the prosecutor’s office states.<br/>