Narrative:

Due to thunderstorms with severe lightning; a ground stop occurred. While the ramp was still closed and the radar showed lightning within 2 miles; the decision was made to have a ramp supervisor go around to our 'critical flights' to crack doors so that flights showed arrived; due to the long tarmac delays. Instead of just cracking the door the ramp supervisor actually opened the aircraft doors and allowed passengers to deplane all while the ramp was closed due to lightning. I called immediately on the radio to verify that the ramp was still closed and we were told yes by the ops manager. Then another csa called the ops manager on the phone to verify that the supervisor was deplaning pax and that the ramp was still closed. The ops manager confirmed again ramp was closed but that 'upper management' made the decision to deplane. The ramp supervisor continued to open other aircraft doors and deplane pax. While passengers deplaned through the open door outside onto a metal hard stand passenger loading bridge out into the open tarmac into the building; you could visually see the lightning and the radar continued to register strikes within 2 miles of the airport. Agents at these gates then had to explain why we could not retrieve their luggage; due to the ramp being closed. So my question is why; if it is unsafe for the ramp personnel to be outside; why is it safe for a supervisor or our passengers to be outside?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CSA reported that passengers were deplaned from aircraft at gates while the ramp was closed due to lightning reports in the area.

Narrative: Due to thunderstorms with severe lightning; a ground stop occurred. While the ramp was still closed and the radar showed lightning within 2 miles; the decision was made to have a ramp supervisor go around to our 'critical flights' to crack doors so that flights showed arrived; due to the long tarmac delays. Instead of just cracking the door the ramp supervisor actually opened the aircraft doors and allowed passengers to deplane all while the ramp was closed due to lightning. I called immediately on the radio to verify that the ramp was still closed and we were told yes by the Ops Manager. Then another CSA called the Ops Manager on the phone to verify that the supervisor was deplaning pax and that the ramp was still closed. The Ops Manager confirmed again ramp was closed but that 'Upper Management' made the decision to deplane. The ramp supervisor continued to open other aircraft doors and deplane pax. While passengers deplaned through the open door outside onto a metal hard stand passenger loading bridge out into the open tarmac into the building; you could visually see the lightning and the radar continued to register strikes within 2 miles of the airport. Agents at these gates then had to explain why we could not retrieve their luggage; due to the ramp being closed. So my question is why; if it is unsafe for the ramp personnel to be outside; why is it safe for a supervisor or our passengers to be outside?

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.