Jorge Manalang is being praised as a hero for singlehandedly stopping a runaway catering truck at Chicago O’Hare before it crashed into a nearby aircraft.
Manalang is a ramp instructor for Envoy, a regional subsidiary of American Airlines. On Monday, he played a critical role in stopping a spinning beverage catering truck from colliding with an Embraer 140.
A case of water slipped onto the gas pedal, causing the vehicle to spin in reverse. As the vehicle spun, it came closer and closer to aircraft. While other employees watched, Manalang sprang into action.
He jumped into a push-back tug and intercepted the cart at the perfect moment, flipping it over and away from harm.
If you have not seen it, watch the video below. It has been viewed over 18 million times:
Crazy event at ORD. Heads up safety move by a ramp worker! pic.twitter.com/SQi5zB0Ooz
— Kevin Klauer DO, EJD (@Emergidoc) September 30, 2019
Ricky Deane, Envoy’s Vice President in Chicago, said:
I’m incredibly proud of Jorge’s actions – he not only prevented severe damage to the aircraft, but more importantly, he prevented what could have been serious injury to his fellow ramp employees or our customers onboard. He demonstrated the ‘safety first’ focus that we have here at the hub – it’s the foundation of everything we do.
Manalang himself added:
I was just doing my job. Safety is our number one priority and I did not want anyone to get hurt, so I used the pushback to stop the cart.
Blah, blah, blah corporate language…
I hate to even suggest negligence, but I’m wondering why the engine was left running while the aircraft was being loaded? Is it appropriate to leave drinks in or near the driver’s seat?
CONCLUSION
Whatever caused this, Manalang deserves great praise for acting quickly to stop it. His efforts were nothing short of heroic.
Matthew:
Golf carts have an automatic ignition. The parking brake is a simple mechanism that keeps the main brake engaged. Pushing the gas pedal will release the parking brake and start the engine. Protocol is to put the vehicle into neutral and then set the parking brake…. But it’s easy to just set the brake and leave the cart in gear, which would quite easily lead to this type of incident.
Definitely negligent by whomever was driving the cart, but it’s a lot easier for this to happen than one might think…
Hero? Come on.
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Wait…. Which one is sarcasm, “the hero” thing or “the negligent” thing? Curious….