MONTREAL— A ground worker has been seriously injured after being struck by a French bee Airbus A350 during pushback operations at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) on August 24.
French Bee (BF) was preparing the Airbus A350-900 for a flight from Montreal to Paris Orly Airport (ORY) when the accident occurred at around 7:30 p.m. local time.
Airport authorities activated emergency procedures, and the injured employee was transported to a hospital, with reports describing the condition as critical.
French bee A350 Strikes Worker
The accident occurred while the widebody aircraft was being moved from its parking position. Initial reports identified the employee as a ground marshaller or signaller responsible for guiding aircraft during apron operations, although authorities have not yet released a detailed account of exactly how the accident occurred.
Some reports have indicated that the worker tripped and fell into the aircraft’s path during the pushback.
The aircraft subsequently struck the employee with its landing gear, but investigators will need to establish the precise sequence of events.
The aircraft involved was an Airbus A350-900 registered as F-HREY. The seven-year-old aircraft entered service with French bee in June 2019 and is configured with 35 premium-economy seats and 376 economy seats.
Flight Delayed in Montreal
The A350 had been due to operate French bee’s Montreal-Paris service after experiencing a technical problem that had left it in Montreal over the weekend.
Flight records show that the aircraft had previously operated the route, while the August 24 service was ultimately disrupted by the accident.
The aircraft’s planned departure was around 6 p.m., but the pushback took place later in the evening.
Following the accident, the aircraft remained at Montreal-Trudeau while another French bee A350 operated the regularly scheduled service to Paris Orly after midnight.
The incident did not halt airport operations. Aéroports de Montréal said emergency measures were deployed at approximately 7:30 p.m., while passengers were advised to check directly with their airlines for flight information.
Investigation Underway in Canada
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has been notified of the accident.
However, the TSB had not announced a deployment to the airport as of August 25, while Quebec’s workplace safety regulator is also expected to examine the incident because it involved an airport employee, PYOK flagged.
French bee was established by Groupe Dubreuil in 2016 as a French long-haul low-cost carrier.
The airline initially operated under the name French Blue before adopting the French bee brand in 2018 following objections from U.S. carrier JetBlue over the use of the word “Blue.”
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