Airbus A320 N220FR

Summary

On 28 January 2019 at about 13:17 local time, a Airbus A320 registered N220FR, operated by Frontier Airlines, was involved in an accident near Denver, Colorado, United States. 126 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

28 January 2019 at 13:17

Classification

Accident

Location

Denver, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Denver International (KDIA)

Coordinates

39.8561, -104.6736

Aircraft

Airbus A320

Registration

N220FR

Category

Airplane

Year built

2013

Engines

2

Operator

Frontier Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Denver → Buffalo

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

DCA19CA079

Nobody was injured.

loss of control of the tug by the driver during pushback operations as a result of the contaminated ramp, angle of the towbar, and the airplane engines being at idle thrust.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On January 28, 2019, about 0617 mountain standard time, Frontier Airlines flight 450, an Airbus A320-214, N220FR, was struck by the tug during pushback operations at Denver International Airport (KDEN), Denver, Colorado.  There were no injuries and the airplane received substantial damage. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from KDEN to Buffalo International Airport (KBUF), Buffalo, New York. According to flight crew statements, the crew advised the tug driver they were cleared to push back, either tail east or straight back. At the time of the accident, dark night conditions existed and the ramp was contaminated with snow. During the pushback, the flight crew started No. 1 and 2 engines. The tug driver pushed the airplane back with its empennage towards the east and then notified the captain that he would pull forward to straighten them out. As the tug driver pulled the airplane forward and was coming to a stop the airplane's nose began to drift to the left.  The tug detached from the airplane and impacted the right forward fuselage and right engine air intake resulting in substantial damage. The captain noted that the nose swung to the left, and then said it felt as if the airplane was moving backwards. According to the operator, on the morning of the accident, the ramp management company had instructed their ground personnel that all pushbacks should be straight back pushes due to the snowy conditions. It is likely that the angle of the towbar from pushing the airplane back to the east, combined with the snow contaminated ramp and the engine idle thrust, caused the tug driver to lose control of the tug during the pushback.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.