Boeing 757 N57852

Summary

On 23 July 2019 at about 07:48 local time, a Boeing 757 registered N57852, operated by United Airlines, was involved in an accident near San Francisco, California, United States. 199 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

23 July 2019 at 07:48

Classification

Accident

Location

San Francisco, California, United States

Nearest airport

San Francisco International (KSFO)

Coordinates

37.7739, -122.4314

Aircraft

Boeing 757

Registration

N57852

Category

Airplane

Year built

2001

Engines

2

Operator

United Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Francisco → Chicago

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA19CA186

Nobody was injured.

failure of the ground crew to maintain clearance from the parked airplane during pushback.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On July 23, 2019, about 0048, pacific daylight time, United Airlines flight 1161, N57852, a Boeing 757-324, received substantial damage during pushback. There were no injuries to the passengers or crew onboard.  The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from San Francisco International Airport (SFO), to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Chicago, Illinois. According to the flight crew the airplane was at gate 62 at SFO and after the door was closed and Pre-flight and Before-pushback checklists were completed, the flight crew then received clearance to push back. According to the ground crew, the pushback operation was conducted with a tug driver and a wing walker at each wing. After pushback was initiated, another airplane was towed behind the accident airplane. The tug driver stated he saw the other airplane and stopped but lost sight of the wing walker. After he thought the other airplane was clear, he started to move the airplane again, but then was signaled by the other airplanes ground crew to stop and that he had hit their airplane. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the right-hand elevator outboard section had broken at the second attach fitting. Also, the right-hand horizontal stabilizer had a puncture, end cap damage and other damage to the lower skin extending about 24 to 30 inches from the outboard end.  

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.