Workers stranded as plane tips backwards

A cargo plane being unloaded at Los Angeles International Airport tipped backward, stranding seven workers 40 feet in the air for about an hour.

No one was hurt in the accident, which authorities said happened because a stabilising jack had not been placed beneath the rear of the aircraft.

“As soon as they moved the cargo out of the plane, the weight shifted and the plane just went back on its tail,” fire department spokesman Bob Collis said.

The workers were rescued by firefighters using a ladder truck, Collis said.

Television footage showed a conveyor belt crushed under the plane’s tail.

Workers may need a crane to right the MD-11 plane, operated by World Airways, Collis said.