Tail-heavy cargo plane tips at LAX

updated 10:28 a.m. ET May 27, 2004

LOS ANGELES - A cargo plane being unloaded at Los Angeles International Airport became unbalanced and tipped onto its rear wheels Thursday, stranding seven workers 40 feet above ground.

The workers were rescued after about an hour by firefighters using a ladder truck, fire department spokesman Bob Collis said. None of the workers was hurt.

Workers may need a crane to right the MD-11 plane, operated by World Airways, Collis said. The company, based in Peachtree City, Ga., did not immediately return a phone message.

The accident happened before dawn at the airport’s cargo complex, away from regular airport traffic.

“As soon as they took whatever it was out of the back of the plane, the weight shifted and the plane just went back on its tail,” Collis said.

In January 2002, a Korean Air MD-11 tipped back on its tail while being unloaded in Sydney, Australia. Ten crew members were trapped, but all were rescued without injury.

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