Maybe not a true planning thread but something to think about when traveling through airports. This was in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today:
The two young boys who suffered escalator injuries at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this week were wearing soft shoes connected to similar accidents across the country, an airport spokesman said today.
The 7-year-old boy who was injured Tuesday was wearing Crocs, the popular rubbery clog-like shoes, said airport spokesman Herschel Grangent. He suffered lacerations on his foot, Grangent said.
And the 4-year-old who suffered injuries Thursday was wearing flip-flops, Grangent said, though a representative from the company that maintains the airport's escalators described them as sandals. Grangent did not know that boy's condition.
Both children were injured after their shoes got caught between the moving stairs and the sides of the escalators, Grangent said.
In addition, another four-year-old suffered several broken toes two weeks ago when his Crocs were also caught in a Hartsfield-Jackson escalator.
"Two thirds of the way down, I heard, pop, pop, snap ... what I realized was Andrew's toes breaking," said his mother, Belinda Skelton. "We came within millimeters of losing [his] big toe."
Andrew, she said, is recovering after surgery, and is on his second cast, unable to put any weight on his right foot.
"You try keeping a 4-year-old from walking," said Skelton, who produces the Neal Boortz show on WSB Radio, a station that is owned by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's parent company Cox Enterprises, Inc.
Airport spokesman Grangent said "the issue has been the footwear that people have been wearing. I don't have any specific information, but we have seen some indications that it is happening all over the world in malls and other airports and other buildings."
The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning about such soft-sided shoes in May. At the time, the commission said it had tracked 77 such "entrapment" incidents since January of 2006, with about half resulting in injury.
On July 1, a Kentucky mother sued the manufacturer of the popular Crocs shoes for $4 million, blaming the company for injuries her 3-year-old daughter suffered when the girl's foot was trapped in a Hartsfield-Jackson escalator.
The Colorado-based Crocs released a statement July 22 announcing that in the coming year, the polyurethane shoes will be packaged and sold with educational hang tags reminding consumers "to use care when riding escalators and moving walkways."
Tuesday's accident occurred on an escalator at Concourse T by the main security checkpoint, Grangent said. Thursday's incident happened on the escalator at Concourse C, he said.
Asked for copies of accident reports concerning those escalators, Grangent referred the AJC to the company that manages them for the airport: Atlanta Airlines Terminal Corp. Kim Vagher, the corporation's executive director, referred the AJC to the state Department of Labor for copies of the reports. A Labor Department spokesman said those accident reports are not yet complete.
Vagher and Grangent insisted the escalators are safe.
"We maintain them to code compliance absolutely," Vagher said of the airport's escalators. "All of the units are inspected by the state and after each incident they are re-inspected by the state and they cannot be put back into service until they deem them safe."
"We would not put them back in service if they were not deemed safe by the state."
This week, the airport posted signs and started airing public announcements warning people of the dangers of wearing soft shoes on the escalators, Grangent said.
The two young boys who suffered escalator injuries at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this week were wearing soft shoes connected to similar accidents across the country, an airport spokesman said today.
The 7-year-old boy who was injured Tuesday was wearing Crocs, the popular rubbery clog-like shoes, said airport spokesman Herschel Grangent. He suffered lacerations on his foot, Grangent said.
And the 4-year-old who suffered injuries Thursday was wearing flip-flops, Grangent said, though a representative from the company that maintains the airport's escalators described them as sandals. Grangent did not know that boy's condition.
Both children were injured after their shoes got caught between the moving stairs and the sides of the escalators, Grangent said.
In addition, another four-year-old suffered several broken toes two weeks ago when his Crocs were also caught in a Hartsfield-Jackson escalator.
"Two thirds of the way down, I heard, pop, pop, snap ... what I realized was Andrew's toes breaking," said his mother, Belinda Skelton. "We came within millimeters of losing [his] big toe."
Andrew, she said, is recovering after surgery, and is on his second cast, unable to put any weight on his right foot.
"You try keeping a 4-year-old from walking," said Skelton, who produces the Neal Boortz show on WSB Radio, a station that is owned by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's parent company Cox Enterprises, Inc.
Airport spokesman Grangent said "the issue has been the footwear that people have been wearing. I don't have any specific information, but we have seen some indications that it is happening all over the world in malls and other airports and other buildings."
The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning about such soft-sided shoes in May. At the time, the commission said it had tracked 77 such "entrapment" incidents since January of 2006, with about half resulting in injury.
On July 1, a Kentucky mother sued the manufacturer of the popular Crocs shoes for $4 million, blaming the company for injuries her 3-year-old daughter suffered when the girl's foot was trapped in a Hartsfield-Jackson escalator.
The Colorado-based Crocs released a statement July 22 announcing that in the coming year, the polyurethane shoes will be packaged and sold with educational hang tags reminding consumers "to use care when riding escalators and moving walkways."
Tuesday's accident occurred on an escalator at Concourse T by the main security checkpoint, Grangent said. Thursday's incident happened on the escalator at Concourse C, he said.
Asked for copies of accident reports concerning those escalators, Grangent referred the AJC to the company that manages them for the airport: Atlanta Airlines Terminal Corp. Kim Vagher, the corporation's executive director, referred the AJC to the state Department of Labor for copies of the reports. A Labor Department spokesman said those accident reports are not yet complete.
Vagher and Grangent insisted the escalators are safe.
"We maintain them to code compliance absolutely," Vagher said of the airport's escalators. "All of the units are inspected by the state and after each incident they are re-inspected by the state and they cannot be put back into service until they deem them safe."
"We would not put them back in service if they were not deemed safe by the state."
This week, the airport posted signs and started airing public announcements warning people of the dangers of wearing soft shoes on the escalators, Grangent said.
This thread just serves as a good reminder that escelators can be dangerous, no matter what kind of shoes you have on. 
Stupid parent was right there, shopping. Not paying any attention.
I'm just glad that little one didn't loose any fingers.
