New Details Emerge in Corporate Manslaughter Trial of Airbus Contractor

Prosecutors make the case that CAV Aerospace is criminally responsible for death of worker who was crushed by a tower of Airbus parts.

Prosecutors say that CAV Aerospace ignored safety warnings for three years leading up to the death of a warehouse worker at Cambridge International Airport (CBG). The company, which manufactures parts for European aerospace giant Airbus, is defending itself against criminal charges stemming from the death of Paul Bowers.

Bowers, 47, was crushed to death in January 2013 when a stack of Airbus parts toppled onto him. Hangar 14, where the accident occurred, was being used by the company to store stringers —  thin strips of metal that attach under the skin of aircraft like ribs — that CAV Aerospace makes for new Airbus planes.

According to The Telegraph, prosecutors have painted a picture of a company that allegedly had little regard for safety as it tried to keep up with increasing demand for the parts it manufactures for Airbus, which has struggled to match production with record demand for its planes. Court records show that CAV Aerospace is accused of stacking inventory dangerously high despite repeated warnings over the course of three years that the towering stacks were an accident waiting to happen.

This week, Crown Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson revealed to the court that Bowers was on a “designated safe” walkway when he was killed in the collapse. Atkinson contends that the company was forced to ignore warnings about over-stacking parts because it lacked the space to properly store its growing inventory.

“The cause of his death was the collapse of an unstable stack of stringers, which fell on him as he made his way down a designated safe walkway, trapping him up to his chest and crushing him,” Atkinson told the court. “The collapse of the stack of stringers was a direct result of a more general failure to stack stringers in Hangar 14 in a safe and orderly manner.”

CAV Aerospace is accused of corporate manslaughter and breach of health and safety laws, all charges which the company denies. This trial is ongoing.

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