Boeing 757-222 N526UA

Summary

On 31 May 2011 at about 19:15 local time, a Boeing 757-222 registered N526UA, operated by United Airlines, was involved in an accident near Los Angeles, California, United States. 191 people were on board. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 May 2011 at 19:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Los Angeles, California, United States

Nearest airport

Los Angeles Intl. (LAX)

Coordinates

33.9389, -118.4047

Aircraft

Boeing 757-222

Registration

N526UA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

United Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Los Angeles → Chicago

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR11LA300

Injuries not recorded.

The ground crewmembers’ failure to follow proper procedures for removing a stuck or jammed tow bar, which resulted in a ground crew injury.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The tug’s tow bar’s shear pins broke while the airplane was being pushed back from the gate to an adjacent alley (a “turn reversal”), which required a significant (but within limits) turn of the nose landing gear. The tow bar became stuck and, despite repeated attempts by the operator’s ground crew personnel, would not disconnect from the tug or the airplane. When the operator’s ground personnel asked the pilots to release the airplane’s parking brake to ease the tension on the tow bar, the pilots did so. The airplane rolled slightly forward, contacting and fracturing the foot of one of the ground crewmembers. Although the operator’s ground crew ramp service manual procedure and flight manual guidance specified that the airplane’s parking brakes should not be released to assist in releasing a stuck tow bar, the pilots stated that they released the brakes believing that they were going to resume pushback. As a result of a postaccident hazard assessment, the operator stopped performing turn reversal tow operations similar to the accident operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.