How to Find a Sturdy Aircraft Step Stool

Get rid of the flimsy step stool you bought to help passengers get on your aircraft. How do you determine if the step stool you bought will be heavy duty enough for even the biggest passenger getting on or off your airplane? Large passengers are always grateful when they feel secure stepping off your aircraft. Giving them a super heavy duty step stool will make them safe. They have enough to worry about these days while traveling.

First, don’t go to Wal-Mart, Target or Home depot to buy a step stool. The step stools they sell are just plain cheap and won’t hold a lot of weight.

Very important: Next thing to do is look for a load rating on the step stool of 500 pounds. If the step stool you are looking at doesn’t have a load rating permanently attached to itself, it won’t hold a lot of weight. Period.


Don’t waste your time looking at step stools that have legs… Step stools that have legs cannot hold a lot of weight! Legs are dangerous because they will become bent, loose or make the step wobbly. Folding legs on a step stool are the first part to wear out. Legs will make the step stool unsafe for passenger use.

The other problem with legs on a step stool is that the bottom of the legs are used for the non-slip pads (if the step even has non-slip pads). The step stool usually has a rubber cap covering the tip of its metal legs, when the rubber wears through; the metal leg now slides on slick or wet surfaces.

Look for a step stool with a solid design using a perimeter edge for the step stool to set on. Make sure the perimeter walls that support the step are at an angle, putting the weight of the person stepping on it, over the center of the step. This type of design also keeps the step stool from tipping over.


Do a Google search for safe step stool, aircraft step stool or heavy duty step stool to get a better idea of the best heavy duty step stools for aircraft passenger use.

CLICK HERE to order Shure-Steps

Be Careful Using That Crate for an Aircraft Step Stool

Using a crate as a step stool to work on aircraft, whether it’s a milk crate, a metal crate or a plastic crate is not only dangerous it is also against OSHA safety regulations. Whether working on aircraft in the hangar or just making sure that passengers step up safely onto the fold out stairs of an airplane, using the right step stool for the job is essential for company safety compliance. Most A&P mechanics will grab whatever they can find that’s close by to stand on to reach something just out of their normal range. The thinking is “Well, it ‘s just out of my reach so I’ll grab this crate real quick”. Not realizing that the crate they just “grabbed real quick” wasn’t designed for them to stand on. Next thing you know is the mechanic’s butt just hit the floor because the crate slipped out from under him.

The reason why crates make dangerous step stools is because the crates are perfectly square, which is great for using them as storage containers, but lousy as step stools. This is because a safe step stool for aircraft maintenance should put the weight of the person as close to the center of the step stool as possible. In order to do that the step stool has to be bigger at the bottom than at the top. With this type of design the persons weight is closer to the center of the aircraft step stool than if the side was straight like with a crate.




The only OSHA regulations for general purpose step stools are that the step stool has to have handrails if the step stool is over 24 inches high. So don’t expect to find a heavy duty aircraft step stool at one of the big box stores, won’t happen. Those stores sell junk for step stools, flimsy step stools that could injure you just by stepping up on it.

To make sure you get a quality air craft step stool do these 2 things:
1. Make sure the aircraft step stool has the pyramid shape as described above.
2. Look for a step stool with at least a 500 pound rating permanently affixed to the aircraft step stool.




David C. DuPont had invented the safest Shurestep step stool not for his own gratification but specifically to help people prevent unwanted accident like he had before while using unsafe crate to stand on. That incident pushed David to create a more stable, sturdy and safest step stool anyone could use. Together with this excellent invention, David offers a unique and great guarantee that no one could just ignore. For further info you can check his site www.Shure-Step.com

CLICK HERE to order Shure-Steps

An Aircraft Step Stool for Helicopters

Aircraft mechanics have long struggled to work on helicopters safely when trying to get work done around the skids. So, how do you find a safe step stool to work on aircraft and helicopters? The step stools typically used around helicopters were either metal rolling ladders that weren’t small enough to get the mechanic into tight places where he could work on the aircraft safely or they were homemade steps made from a crate of some sort, milk crate, metal crate, wooden crate, etc… Some of the smaller step stools that have been bought at big “box stores” consistently disappoint aircraft mechanics and company safety auditors. Expecting a safe experience using this type of step stool for an aircraft step stool is unreasonable at best, very dangerous at worst.




What step stool do you use when working on helicopters? You sure don’t want to use a flimsy step stool with legs that can bend causing the step stool to become unstable or allow it to wobble. You can avoid these types of flimsy step stools by simply looking for a step stool that is rated for at least 500 pounds. That’s right, 500 pounds minimum. You wouldn’t believe the junk step stools that are rated for 350 pounds being sold as a safe step stool. Don’t buy any step stool that has legs of any kind, especially the folding legs. Legs will get bent, this makes the step stool wobble. When this happens throw your step away, it has just become a liability. The big thing almost every step stool is lacking, is how to keep the step stool from sliding on slick concrete or epoxy coated floors. Look for large rubber pads on the bottom of your aircraft step. The rubber pads should be large enough in floor contact area to keep the step stool from sliding, not small rubber pads that will wear out after minimal use. Last, but not least; if you’re going to use an aircraft step stool on the tarmac, make sure it won’t blow away in the wind.




Shure-Step is a stackable safety step rated at 500 pounds that has many uses; Seniors, bariatric patients, physical therapists, rehabilitation facilities, bus, train, aircraft and transportation drivers, warehouse workers, mechanics, and technicians, even children benefit from the stability and strength of the Shure-Step. Shure-Steps have a non-slip surface with height starting at 6 and 10 inches, and allows you to stack them to reach up to 16 to 22 inches high or more for a guaranteed safe reaching and stepping aid. Or you may check this site www.Shure-Step.com for you to choose from their various types of step stools.

CLICK HERE to order Shure-Steps