Boeing 737-7H4 N494WN

Summary

On 8 July 2005 at about 14:15 local time, a Boeing 737-7H4 registered N494WN was involved in an accident near Chicago, Illinois, United States. 110 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

8 July 2005 at 14:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Chicago Midway (MDW)

Coordinates

41.7858, -87.7525

Aircraft

Boeing 737-7H4

Registration

N494WN

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chicago → Tampa

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI05LA179

Nobody was injured.

The pushback tow driver not maintaining visual lookout for the wing walker's visual signal, and the driver not maintaining clearance from the vehicle during the pushback for taxi. Factors to the accident were the standing vehicle behind the airplane, the inadequate group/crew coordination for the pushback, and the lack of guidance in the company's manuals to stop the tow when visual lookout is not maintained.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The scheduled domestic passenger flight sustained substantial damage when the airplane impacted a food service truck during the flight's pushback. The food service truck tipped on its side after the impact. The operator stated that an additional provisioning (provo) truck was parked behind the aircraft so that the additional driver could assist the driver of the assigned provisioning truck. The captain was informed by the pushback driver of the "provo truck" at the rear galley and the captain told the driver to push at his discretion. The assigned truck servicing the flight completed its service and was marshaled back from the aircraft and departed. The pushback driver, unaware of the second truck behind the aircraft, began to push the aircraft out. During pushback, as the flight crew initiated engine start, the APU stopped running, the engine start was terminated, and the push sequence was stopped. The pushback driver stated that he experienced "difficulty with going forward" and stopped the push. The pushback driver stated that he "did not see anyone telling me to stop pushing that my zone was not clear." The wing walker took his position at the taxiway to walk out the flight and was aware of the truck behind the aircraft. The wing walker stated that "I put up the stop signal and yelled stop but the plane kept on being pushed." The operator's ground operations manual stated that the pushback driver "is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the aircraft has been secured, all personnel involved in the push are in proper position, and the pushback is conducted in a safe manner." The manual did not list, note, caution, or warn the pushback driver to stop the pushback when the driver's visual contact with the guide agent (wing walker) is not maintained. The manual told the guide agent to "always be in visual range of the pushback driver ... ." The operator was asked if there was a back up aural signal to the visual stop signals. The operator indicated that there was none and "since this event we are testing headset communication systems." When asked where the supervisor was, the operator responded that "the supervisor was within visual range but his attempts to stop the push were not heard or seen."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.