Aircraft comprising a hatch and a fall-protection device

A fall-protection device for preventing a cover plate from falling on individuals present under the cover plate after a release of the cover plate from being held in an opening formed on a roof of a structure, the fall-protection device comprising:

• a shoe fixed to the structure;
• a rigid arm comprising a first end attached to the shoe and extending from the shoe in a direction substantially perpendicular to gravity;
• a first strip fastener fixed on a first face of the rigid arm;
• a second strip fastener fixed on a second face of the rigid arm opposite the first face, the length of the second strip fastener being such that, by a bending thereof about a second end of the rigid arm, the second strip fastener can be folded to at least partially cover the first strip fastener, thereby being removably fixed thereon along a joining surface;
• and
• a flexible link comprising, at a first end thereof, a first ring configured to be fixed to the rigid arm by a folded portion of the second strip fastener and, at second end thereof, a second ring configured to be fixed to the cover plate,
• wherein a lock configured to occupy and move between a locking position, in which the lock holds the cover plate in a closed position in the opening, and an unlocked position, in which the lock does not hold the cover plate in the closed position, is provided,
• wherein the flexible link is configured to removably secure the cover plate to the structure and prevent the cover plate from moving beyond an intermediate position, which is located between the first closed position and an open position, in which the cover plate is not secured to the structure,
• wherein the fall protection device is configured such that, when the lock moves into the unlocked position, the at least one fall-protection device is in a first position, in which the at least one fall-protection device allows movement of the cover plate from the closed position to an intermediate position, in which the cover plate is suspended from the structure within the aircraft, and
• wherein the at least one fall-protection device is configured so that the cover plate is movable from the intermediate position to the open position, in which the cover plate is no longer attached to the structure when the flexible link is detached from the structure.