Review Time For Menzies Aviation. Again.

Ten days after a dent caused by a errant baggage loader turned into a hole at 26,000 feet, causing an MD-80 to lose cabin pressure and make a speedy retreat back to the airport, another incident involving contract ramp workers for Alaska Airlines at Seattle-Tacoma International has drawn the ire of company officials -- and dented an otherwise perfectly good airplane.

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, passengers had just begun boarding Flight 808, a 737-700 (file photo of type, center) bound for DFW, Thursday morning when the plane was inadvertently pulled forward by a tug, causing the plane's right engine nacelle to strike a baggage loading machine and the plane's open door to collide with the jetway.

No one was injured in the incident, and while the damage to the plane was described as "minor" it was taken out of service so crews could make sure. Passengers were put on another flight about two hours later.

The incident occurred uncomfortably close to another accident caused by a ground crew worker at Sea-Tac. As was reported in Aero-News, an Alaska Airlines MD-80 suffered cabin decompression December 26 when a small hole blew out on the side of the airliner's fuselage. It was later determined the hole was caused by a "crease" in the plane's aluminum skin, caused by a baggage loader who hadn't thought the incident was worth reporting at the time.

The tug operator -- who, along with the baggage loader, works for Menzies Aviation, the company brought in by Alaska last May to replace 500 unionized ground workers -- was suspended, according to Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Amanda Tobin.

"Alaska Airlines takes this extremely seriously and we are aggressively investigating this situation to understand the root cause and to take additional action to prevent this from re-occurring," Tobin said.

For it's part, Menzies said it will bring in a team of safety experts for a 90-day "top to bottom" review of its operations. This is on top of the three-day review held following the December 26 incident.

"Menzies will also be carrying out a full and immediate review of its operations in Seattle," the company said in a statement Thursday. "A task force, including Menzies top safety experts, will shortly arrive and will work closely with Alaska Airlines and the Port of Seattle."

Alaska Airlines will also add more company supervisors at its Sea-Tac ramp, said Tobin, and the airline will provide additional safety briefings for the more than 400 Menzies workers there.

The NTSB, already investigating the December 26 incident, will also look into Thursday's fender-bender, according to the P-I.

London-based Menzies Aviation has operations at 92 locations around the world.

FMI: www.menziesaviation.com, www.ntsb.gov