By now you’ve probably all seen the video eleventy-threeve times: a runaway catering cart spinning wildly out of control, and at the last second a ramp agent saves the day (and a plane) and, in a move straight out of the Robot Wars TV show, just yeets the offending cart out of the way with another cart.
Well, we now know the name of that ramp agent and it’s time we give him some Andy’s Travel Blog kudos.
Jorge Manalang, courtesy of Envoy Air
It turns out a case of water fell onto the accelerator of the cart, causing it to go nuts. As it spun dangerously close to the plane and, more importantly, ramp agents, Manalang, a six-year veteran of Envoy and an instructor for new ramp agents, thought quickly and, after jumping out of the way of the cart himself, ran over to a nearby push-back tug and was able to corral the service cart just as it seemingly was heading for the Embraer 140 jet at the gate.
Manalang was gracious in his moment of triumph, not once taunting the other cart or saying anything like “I’m Team Pushback, all Catering Carts Must Bow”. He classily said, according to an Envoy Air release, “I was just doing my job. Safety is our number one priority and I did not want anyone to get hurt, so I used the pushback to stop the cart.”
In all seriousness, bravo to Jorge Manalang for 1) being involved in an airport meme that ended well and didn’t involve someone drying their undergarments using the A/C vent on the aircraft and 2) for acting quickly to prevent damage to an expensive airplane and, way more importantly, potential injuries to his crewmates on the ramp and customers aboard the jet.
Oh. And yes, this absolutely reminded me of the time that and end-zone pylon fell onto an on-field cart after a 2011 Texas High School State Championship game, leading to a mad rush and quite a few collisions.
