plane man—(Mining ) a worker who controls cars on a selfacting incline (loaded car going down one track pulls empty cars up on other):
- A laborer who controls the movement of cars is also called drum runner, monitor operator, plane man.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the compound planesman—a person who operates the diving planes on a submarine:
- The diving planesmen tilt the forward planes down and the after planes up.
plane people—(also: jet people) asylum seekers, refugees, or immigrants who relocate by airplane:
- About 2,500 of these “plane people” are leaving each month…. This number is roughly equal to the total monthly arrivals in the region by boat people.