Boeing 737-49R N461PR

Summary

On 16 September 2000 at about 00:45 local time, a Boeing 737-49R registered N461PR was involved in an accident near Flushing, New York, United States. 58 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 September 2000 at 00:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Flushing, New York, United States

Nearest airport

La Guardia (LGA)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Boeing 737-49R

Registration

N461PR

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Detroit

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Bright

NTSB number

NYC00LA267

Nobody was injured.

The tug operator's inadequate visual lookout. A factor in this accident was the night light condition.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was being pushed back at night by three ground crew employees when it's rudder struck a parked airplane. Both 'wing walkers' were equipped with night wands, and had signaled the tug driver to stop prior to the accident. One wing walker stated he noticed that the airplane was getting 'very close' to the MD-80, and signaled the tug operator to stop 'several times' before the accident. The tug operator stated, '...one of the wing walkers signaled me to stop, but I was looking at the other wing walker. He told me to stop, but when I hit the brake it was too late....' The tug operator had been hired and began performing airplane pushbacks in December 1998. The weather reported about the time of the pushback, included: a visibility of 10 statue miles, and scattered clouds at 8, 500 feet msl.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.