A federal administrative law judge has affirmed safety violations against United Airlines related to a 2021 incident at Newark Liberty International Airport, where a 737’s tire crushed a technician’s foot while they were working with one of the company’s towing crews.
The decision by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission on April 23, 2024, upheld the citation issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for violating the general duty clause. The citation carried a proposed $14,502 penalty, which was the maximum amount allowed at the time.
The commission's action followed an OSHA investigation into how the technician's right foot was crushed on November 24, 2021, resulting in hospitalization and amputation of five toes. Investigators determined that United Airlines violated federal regulations by not adhering to its own policies and procedures for safely towing an aircraft. The airline contested the citation before the OSHRC and filed a petition on May 28 seeking to appeal the judge's decision.
“United Airlines could have prevented an employee from suffering a debilitating injury had the company followed its own safety procedures for towing a jet weighing as much as 50 tons,” said OSHA Area Director Joseph Czapik in Parsippany, New Jersey. “This operation is recognized by the airline industry as a dangerous and well-known hazard and proper procedures must be followed to prevent serious injuries or worse.”
The judge found that the department's Office of the Solicitor proved United Airlines did not implement feasible and effective means to abate hazards by following important tow-safety policies. The jurist also concluded that technicians were exposed to serious struck-by and crushed-by hazards during towing operations. In their decision, the judge denied United Airlines’ attempt to cite employee misconduct, given that tow-safety rules were routinely violated without corrective action from the company.
“The Department of Labor takes the importance of protecting employees from recognized hazards very seriously. While not specifically regulated by an OSHA standard, there can be no argument that towing an airplane is, in fact, hazardous work,” said Regional Solicitor Jeffrey S. Rogoff in New York. “As our case vigorously demonstrated — and the judge agreed — United Airlines was liable for not enforcing its own safety procedures for this dangerous operation.”
OSHA’s Parsippany Area Office conducted the workplace safety investigation, while attorneys Jordan Laris Cohen and Jacob Heyman-Kantor from the department’s Office of the Solicitor in New York litigated the case.
Docket Number: 22-0744
