Family 02
Aircraft access stairs and rolling stands
Door, hatch, flight deck and service-panel access, with tread geometry set so people climb them the same way every time — loaded, in a hurry, in the dark.
Stair types
Fixed-rise rolling stairs
One height, one aircraft family, no mechanism. The most reliable thing you can buy, and the right answer when your fleet is consistent.
Adjustable-height stairs
Covers a range of sill heights across mixed types. Buy this when the fleet is mixed — not because adjustability sounds like flexibility.
Service and panel access stands
Short-rise stands with a working platform at the top for a specific panel, port or service point. Small footprint, gets used constantly, usually the cheapest safety win in the hangar.
Flight deck and narrow-envelope stands
Narrow-footprint access that fits inside the aircraft envelope where a standard stair will not clear.
Cargo hold access stairs
Deck at sill height with a level transition into the hold, so nobody steps up and in with their hands full.
Boarding and ground support stairs
Passenger and crew access at FBOs, regional operations and maintenance moves. Weather and ramp duty change the specification — drainage, finish and tow provisions all matter.
The three things that make a stair safe or unsafe
1. Consistent rise and run
People climb stairs by muscle memory. A stair whose treads vary, or whose top step is a different rise from the others, produces trips — especially carrying tooling. Uniform rise and run is not a nicety, it is the whole design.
2. Handrails you can actually grab
Graspable, continuous, at a height that works whether somebody is going up empty or coming down loaded. A rail that stops short at the top landing is where people fall.
3. A landing that matches the work
The platform at the top has to be big enough to stand on and turn around on with tooling in hand, guarded on the open sides, and at the height of the work — not near it. Most "we need a bigger ladder" problems are actually landing problems.
Design standards. Stair geometry is dimensioned against OSHA 29 CFR 1910.23, guardrail and handrail systems against 1910.29, and mobile ladder stands and platforms against ANSI-ASC A14.7 where applicable. The specific standards and dimensions for your configuration are stated on the drawing issued with your quote.
Stairs, or a platform?
The short version: a stair gets you to the work, a platform lets you do the work. If technicians stand on the stair to work, you bought the wrong thing.
| If this is true | Buy |
|---|---|
| People climb up, go through a door or hatch, and the stair is empty while they work | Access stairs |
| People stay at height with tools in both hands for minutes or hours | Rolling work platform |
| Work runs along a length — a wing, a fuselage panel, a paint seam | Work platform, long deck |
| Access point is a single panel or port, reached briefly and often | Service access stand |
| Somebody is currently standing on the top step or the guardrail to reach it | Call us today |