McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F N302FE

Summary

On 1 March 2000 at about 08:47 local time, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F registered N302FE was involved in an accident near Newark, New Jersey, United States. 3 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

1 March 2000 at 08:47

Classification

Accident

Location

Newark, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Newark Intl Airport (EWR)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F

Registration

N302FE

Category

Airplane

Engines

3

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Memphis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

NYC00LA086

Nobody was injured.

The tug operator's inadequate visual lookout.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was taxiing to the runway for departure when the APU door light illuminated. The airplane returned to the loading dock, the engines were shut down, and the APU door was closed and secured. The airplane's engines were then restarted, and the airplane began another pushback. One maintenance technician was wearing a headset, and was located off the right side of the airplane. Another technician was driving the tug. After receiving clearance to push, the tug driver made a gradual turn to avoid equipment and minimize jet blast to other gates. Halfway down the ramp, the airplane contacted the loading dock, and suffered an 8-foot gash along the left side, below the cockpit area. The tug operator stated that the tug's drive mechanism was sticking in a '2-wheel,' or 'crab' mode. Post-accident investigation of the tug revealed no discrepancies, although other technicians subsequently complained of the same intermittent problem. Components were removed for testing, with no anomalies found. However, once those components were replaced, there were no additional problems with the tug. A representative from the tug's manufacturer stated that regardless of system status, the operator would always have had front wheel steering and braking.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.