Incident Overview
An aircraft arriving at a gate experienced a collision with ground equipment after the captain failed to heed signals from ground crewmembers. The incident occurred when the captain observed another aircraft still parked at the designated gate upon arrival. After holding away from the gate, the other aircraft was pushed back, and the captain began to taxi into the gate.
Sequence of Events
As the aircraft approached the gate, a ground crewman signaled the captain to stop. The captain continued to taxi forward. A second ground crewman then signaled the captain to stop, but the captain again continued. Subsequently, a ground crewman directed the captain to turn to the right to avoid ground equipment. The captain continued to taxi straight ahead. Shortly thereafter, the left wing of the aircraft collided with a cargo container loader, resulting in substantial damage to the wing.
Observations
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector was present on the cockpit jumpseat, performing an enroute inspection of the flight, and observed the entire sequence.