A Virgin airliner pilot was blown away from the stairs of his plane by the engine thrust of a passing jumbo that was taxiing close by,in a freak accident at an Australian airport. The pilot suffered a fractured arm and leg when the aluminium stairs were blown over by the force of the Qantas 747 jumbo's engine blast. He was going through pre-flight checks on a 737 passenger jet in Brisbane last week when the aluminium stairs he was standing on were blown over by the force of the Qantas plane's engine,the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The 747 had been taxiing to a runway and was awaiting clearance from air traffic controllers to take off when the incident occurred. "A second officer was taken to hospital and treated for his injuries but he is now at home," a spokeswoman of the Virgin airliner said. "Our plane was in the right place at the right time," she said,adding that "the one dynamic which was different was the thrust level of the Qantas plane,which caused the stairs to blow over." The aluminium stairs to the 737 were blown over several times by the blast of the Qantas engines and the pilot's injuries could have been worse. But Qantas said its plane was "operating normally" under instructions from air traffic control and "at no stage" was excessive thrust used. The airline has reported the incident to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Safety experts are looking into how the Qantas jumbo came close enough to the Boeing 737,which is operated by Virgin subsidiary Pacific Blue,to blow over the stairs on which the first officer was standing.
