Dash 8's Prop Wash Blows Baggage Dolly into United 737 at LAX

Описание: On July 25, 2018 while taxiing for departure at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), California, prop wash from a preceding Bombardier Dash 8 blew a baggage dolly into the right engine of a United Airlines Boeing 737, tail number N62892, at 16:04 hours local time.

As can be seen in this video, the Dash 8 is just beginning to move at the time its prop wash blows the baggage dolly free. Generally, the amount of thrust needed to initiate movement from a standstill ("breakaway thrust") is much higher than the thrust needed to sustain movement. Bad timing by the cart driver, it seems.

A review of NASA ASRS reports reveals that the 1980s and 1990s saw 20 to 40 reported jet blast incidents per year, and that reported incidents decreased to their current 10 - 15 per year following an information campaign in the mid-1990s.

An anonymous incident report filed with NASA in 1991 regarding a jet blast incident at O'Hare describes an occurrence somewhat similar to this one, where a baggage cart was blown into the propeller of another aircraft. The reporting pilot included the following suggestion with his report:

"Baggage cart drivers/any vehicle drivers [should] not pass [behind] aircraft at any time because they are unable to judge how much power is presently applied or could be applied on the jet engines ahead of them." (ASRS ACN 194755)

What are your thoughts? Is the pilot’s advice above sensible or unrealistic? And can the rate of jet blast incidents be reduced further, or is 10-15 annually a natural floor?

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