Boeing 757-251 N550NW

Summary

On 19 January 2003 at about 12:15 local time, a Boeing 757-251 registered N550NW was involved in an accident near Flushing, New York, United States. 8 people were on board. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 January 2003 at 12:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Flushing, New York, United States

Nearest airport

La Guardia (LGA)

Coordinates

40.7772, -73.8725

Aircraft

Boeing 757-251

Registration

N550NW

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Flushing → Minneapolis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC03FA039

Injuries not recorded.

Maintenance personnel failure to maintain aircraft control as a result of excessive throttle input.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Boeing 757 was parked at the gate with passengers aboard when an Airbus that was being taxied struck the Boeing. The Airbus was being taxied to a gate by maintenance technicians. The taxiing mechanic reported that he activated the parking brake and waited for ground personnel and a jet way operator to arrive. After the ground personnel arrived he released the parking brake. The airplane did not move and he advanced the throttles out of their idle detents "a couple of inches, about halfway." The airplane began to move at a "fairly decent speed," and he realized the throttles were still out of the idle detent position. He pulled the throttles back and applied brakes; however, the airplane did not slow and continued until it struck the jet way. Review of the flight data recorder revealed that about 12 seconds after the parking brake was released, the thrust lever angles for both engines were increased to about 17 degrees for about 9 seconds, before they were returned to the idle position. During that time, the engines N1 and N2 speeds increased to about 71, and 85 percent, respectively. The taxiing mechanic stated he was qualified to taxi the Airbus and had taxied the airplane regularly as part of his normal work duties. Review of his training records revealed he had received approximately 5 hours of initial Airbus taxi on-the-job training. However, he did not possess an authorization to taxi the A319. Examination of airplane's brake-steering control unit, and the electronic control units from each engine, did not reveal any evidence of a system failure, which would have contributed to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.