Narrative:

Aircraft is ready for close up. The airplane needs an air start. Customer service agent and myself; are standing at the end of the bridge; on standby. Capitan has advised his crew and all passengers on board that in a few minutes they will be airborne.ramp personnel knows about the air start. There is a soft rain falling; and we both are observing how two contract supervisors (wearing orange vests) pull the connecting cable from the air start unit and pulled it to the tail of the plane. Both individuals are of average height; and instead of bringing a piece of equipment that will let them safely stand high in order to connect the device; they were both jumping trying to connect the unit to the plane. After they think it is ready; a third individual approaches the plane from the right side with a small mobile platform. Then; the individuals stop jumping and attach the cable to the plane. It was not properly done; so they did disconnect and connect again. This time properly.the point here; is that; the two supervisors know that they are handling a device that produces high voltage. The ramp area is wet and slippery; they are not wearing proper protective equipment; and on top of that they wasted about ten minutes; trying to improperly attach the cable to the plane; which jeopardized not only their personal safety; but there was potential damage that could have been done to the plane; if the device would have been turned on; while improperly attached. If not because of the ramp agent that brought the mobile platform; the outcome could have been different. I would recommend for contract personnel to be contacted; for them to go with their ramp personnel through a review of the SOP.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A ramp person reported watching other ground personnel attempting to attach an air start unit to the tail of a CRJ-700 by jumping to reach the connection. A third individual arrives with a small platform and the connection is made properly.

Narrative: Aircraft is ready for close up. The airplane needs an air start. Customer service agent and myself; are standing at the end of the bridge; on standby. Capitan has advised his crew and all passengers on board that in a few minutes they will be airborne.Ramp personnel knows about the air start. There is a soft rain falling; and we both are observing how two Contract Supervisors (wearing orange vests) pull the connecting cable from the air start unit and pulled it to the tail of the plane. Both individuals are of average height; and instead of bringing a piece of equipment that will let them safely stand high in order to connect the device; they were both jumping trying to connect the unit to the plane. After they think it is ready; a third individual approaches the plane from the right side with a small mobile platform. Then; the individuals stop jumping and attach the cable to the plane. It was not properly done; so they did disconnect and connect again. This time properly.The point here; is that; the two Supervisors know that they are handling a device that produces high voltage. The ramp area is wet and slippery; they are not wearing proper protective equipment; and on top of that they wasted about ten minutes; trying to improperly attach the cable to the plane; which jeopardized not only their personal safety; but there was potential damage that could have been done to the plane; if the device would have been turned on; while improperly attached. If not because of the ramp agent that brought the mobile platform; the outcome could have been different. I would recommend for contract personnel to be contacted; for them to go with their ramp personnel through a review of the SOP.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.