Collection: Aircraft & Hangar Fall Protection
Mobile overhead anchors and davit systems for aircraft maintenance, hangar work, fuelling and inspection. Available to rent or buy, shipped nationwide across the U.S. and Canada. Call 949-954-6581 and describe the airframe and the hangar.
Rent it, or wait for the engineering
Search for aviation fall protection and you will find vacuum anchors, wing-mounted rail systems and hangar-spanning overhead rigid rail. Those are real answers for a permanent line maintenance operation with one airframe type and a hangar you own.
They are the wrong answer for an MRO with a mixed fleet, a leased hangar, a heavy check that lands next month, or a base that services whatever taxis in. Those operations need an anchor that moves between aircraft and between bays, and they usually need it before a capital request would clear.
We rent that equipment nationally. It is the option missing from almost every aviation fall-protection result.
The standard is stricter here than on a ramp
Hangar work is general industry. Under 29 CFR 1910.28(b)(1)(i) each employee on a walking-working surface with an unprotected side or edge 4 feet or more above a lower level has to be protected. That is two feet lower than the construction trigger most people carry in their heads, and a wing surface clears it easily.
There is a second point worth knowing, and it cuts against the usual excuse. OSHA's long-standing position on rolling stock is that it will not cite falls from open stock under Subpart D, but will look to 29 CFR 1910.132(d) where the work happens inside or contiguous to a building and fall protection is feasible. A hangar is the textbook case of inside a building. The infeasibility argument that gets used on an open ramp does not travel indoors.
Why fixed anchors keep failing in a hangar
The recurring complaint is not that fixed systems do not work. It is that the technician is never where the system is. Work moves along the fuselage, out the wing, up to the tail, then to a different aircraft in a different bay. A rail installed for one airframe leaves gaps on the next.
A mobile overhead anchor inverts that. The anchor follows the technician, and it does not care which type is in the bay. When the aircraft leaves, the unit rolls to the next one instead of becoming an asset attached to an empty stand.
Choosing between a grabber and a davit
- Mobile grabbers give overhead reach out over a wing or fuselage and cover several workers at once. Take one when the work is on top of the aircraft.
- Davit systems are mast-and-base anchors for single-user tie-off, material handling and confined space. Take one for tank entry, tight bays, and work where reach matters less than a fixed, repeatable point.
- Non-penetrating units matter indoors. A hangar floor is usually not something you are allowed to drill, and a ballasted or free-standing base avoids the conversation entirely.
- Indoor manoeuvring. Bay clearances, door heights and how the unit moves between stands decide as much as anchor capacity does. Give us the constraint when you call.
Where this fits alongside a permanent system
The two are not opposed. Plenty of operations run a fixed rail over the main line-maintenance bay and rent mobile units for overflow, heavy checks, transient aircraft and the bays the rail never covered. Renting is also the honest way to find out which permanent system you actually want, before the capital request is written.
Frequently asked questions
What fall protection does OSHA require for aircraft maintenance?
Hangar and shop work is general industry, so 29 CFR 1910.28(b)(1)(i) applies: protection is required at an unprotected side or edge 4 feet or more above a lower level. That is lower than the 6-foot construction trigger. Where work happens on top of equipment inside a building, OSHA also looks to the PPE standard at 29 CFR 1910.132(d) wherever fall protection is feasible.
Can I rent aircraft fall protection equipment?
Yes. Mobile overhead anchors and davit systems rent by the week or the month and ship nationwide. This is the usual answer for a heavy check, a leased hangar, a mixed fleet, or overflow beyond what a fixed rail covers.
Why not just install a permanent rail in the hangar?
Install one if you have a single airframe type and a hangar you control. Fixed rail struggles with a mixed fleet, because the technician's position changes with the aircraft and the rail does not. Many operations run both: rail over the main bay, mobile units everywhere else.
Will a mobile unit damage the hangar floor?
Non-penetrating units need no drilling and no anchors in the slab, which is the point of them indoors. Tell us the floor type and the bay clearances when you call and we will match the unit to them.
How many technicians can work off one unit?
It depends on the model, from single-user davit systems up to seven workers on the larger mobile systems, with each anchor point rated 310 lb.
Do you supply outside California?
Yes. Equipment sales and rentals are national, across the U.S. and Canada. Only our safety consulting is limited to Southern California.