On December 27, 2006, a Boeing 737-7H4 (registration N207WN) was involved in an aviation accident near San Diego, CA. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: Failure of the captain, during taxi, to maintain adequate clearance from an occupied airplane stopped on the ramp. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
A taxiing airplane struck a stationary airplane that had been pushed back from a gate. The left winglet of the taxiing airplane struck the right horizontal stabilizer of the stationary airplane, shearing off the winglet top.
Incident Details
Flight 1092 was parked at gate 5. The crew received pushback clearance and was advised of a company airplane taxiing from gate 1. Ground personnel pushed Flight 1092 back, and the captain set the airplane's brakes.
The crew of Flight 1011 received clearance to taxi from gate 1 to runway 27 and was advised to use caution because of a company airplane pushing back from gate 5. The crew of the taxiing airplane performed taxi checklist items and discussed using caution regarding the stopped airplane that had been pushed back from gate 5. The first officer (FO) of the taxiing airplane pointed out that there was an open area on his side of the airplane in case the captain needed to deviate to the right for clearance.
Sequence of Events
Flight data recorder information indicated that the taxiing airplane turned to the right (away from the stationary airplane) about 26.5 degrees while moving at a maximum ground speed of 11 knots. It then turned about 2.5 degrees back to the left (towards the stationary airplane) while the brakes were applied, and it stopped. About 8 seconds after coming to a stop, it began moving forward. It collided with the other airplane about 2 seconds later at a recorded groundspeed of 3 knots. The crew of the taxiing airplane was not sure what they hit.
Damage
The left winglet from the taxiing airplane struck the right horizontal stabilizer of the stopped airplane. The top half of the winglet sheared off and imbedded itself in the horizontal stabilizer just outboard of the elevator.
