Edinburgh Airport fined £80,000 after death of pensioner who fell from plane lift

James Young, 81, was travelling home from a holiday on the Greek island of Rhodes with his disabled wife when he fell around five feet while being transported on an airport ambulift. Mr Young was said to have landed “on his hands and knees” and was rushed to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh for treatment following the fall at around 4pm on November 28, 2023.

The OAP was found to have suffered a punctured lung, spine fractures and a fractured pelvis. He also sustained a flail chest, which occurs when adjacent ribs are broken in multiple places. Mr Young suffered a heart attack two days later and medics came to the conclusion “the totality of his injuries and medical condition were not survivable”.

Mr Young, from Edinburgh, died just before 9pm on December 7, 2023.

Edinburgh Airport Ltd, a private limited company, was prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

The Crown produced a written narrative detailing the incident that resulted in the death of Mr Young. The narration stated Mr Young had been on holiday in Rhodes with his 79-year-old wife Anne and had flown into Gatwick Airport before travelling on to Edinburgh Airport on November 28, 2023.

The company that owns Edinburgh Airport has been fined £80,000 after a pensioner died following a fall from a lift designed to take a disabled passenger from a plane to the ground. | x

Mrs Young has mobility issues and uses a wheelchair and as a result her husband had organised assistance from the easyJet aircraft using one of the airport’s ambulifts. The ambulift is a specially designed vehicle to assist passengers who embark from the aircraft door and can then be transported to the terminal.

The ambulift cabin was elevated to the aircraft’s door and six passengers moved into the vehicle’s cabin. The narration stated: “The passenger cabin was lowered onto the chassis and one of the employees exited via the side entrance and used the tail lift controls to lower the tail lift platform from its stowed position to a horizontal position and raised it to the level of the rear cabin door, approximately 1.6 metres above the ground level.

“The passengers then exited the cabin onto the tail lift, Mr Young among them, who stood on its offside. One of the employees then picked up an item of luggage that was behind Mr Young and passed it to a colleague on the ground. He was then passed another similar item which he lifted off the tail lift and passed to colleagues standing on the ground adjacent to the vehicle.

“Mr Young then turned around and picked up a piece of luggage that he attempted to pass down to one of the airport staff and in doing so, he either leant on or tried to balance himself on the side rail when it swung outwards causing him to lose his balance and fall forward through the gap that had been created by the rail swinging outwards.

“As the tail lift had not yet been lowered, Mr Young fell around 1.6 metres from the tail lift platform to the ground, landing on his hands and knees, the employee closest to him being unsuccessful in their attempt is to break his fall.”

Mr Young was not believed to have sustained serious injury at the time, but was taken to the terminal in a wheelchair and then to hospital ‘as a precaution’. His injuries were discovered by hospital staff during a subsequent examination.

A post mortem carried out on December 15, 2023, found “numerous rib, thoracic spine fractures and a pelvic fracture were noted along with tearing of the pleura and extensive chest wall haemorrhages”. Evidence was also found of Mr Young’s heart attack and ventilator associated pneumonia.

The court was told an investigation was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive the day after the incident and “no defects” were found. The investigation found “the locking mechanism of the offside safety rail worked as intended” while the vehicle was on the ground. However, when the platform was raised components of the rail became “misaligned”.

The narration stated: “The effect of this is that while the side rail could not have been opened with the tail lift sitting on the ground, it could potentially open outwards if even slight pressure was applied from anyone, but only when the tail lift was elevated.

“These investigations made it possible to be determined that when Mr Young was on board the tail lift, the offside safety rail had not been secured to the lifting platform. It is against this background that this particular incident occurred with such catastrophic consequences for Mr Young.”

In sentencing, Sheriff Fiona Sharp said the “isolated incident” had been “a tragic accident” and noted the ambulift had been inspected by a third party with no defects found on June 9, 2023 and December 8, 2022.

Sheriff Sharp said this was the first time the company had faced prosecution and she had been persuaded “the culpability is low”. Sheriff Sharp issued Edinburgh Airport Ltd with a fine of £80,000 that was reduced from £120,000 due to the early guilty plea.

A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: “We again offer our sincere condolences to the family of Mr Young following the tragic accident at Edinburgh Airport in November 2023.

“We have cooperated fully with the police and regulatory authorities throughout their investigations and we accept the decision of the court. The safety of our team and passengers continues to be a fundamental priority for the business.”