27 Jul 2010: GULFSTREAM GIV SP — Thomas H Lee Management Co, LLC

27 Jul 2010: GULFSTREAM GIV SP — Thomas H Lee Management Co, LLC

No fatalities • New York, NY, United States

Probable cause

The flight crew’s failure to maintain adequate wing tip clearance from a light pole during taxi.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

According to the first officer, the airplane was being directed to the parking area by one marshaler, who was positioned in front of, and to the left of the airplane. The first officer looked out his window to determine the right wing's clearance from a blast fence, but could not see the wingtip due to the sun's position behind the airplane. According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the captain stated that he knew the wing was "close" to the fence, but the marshaler was signaling to continue. The airplane's right wingtip then impacted a light pole inside the blast fence, resulting in substantial damage. The captain stated that prior to impact, the marshaler never signaled them to stop. The marshaler stated to the FAA inspector that she attempted to signal the captain to stop, but his head "was turned to the right." The FAA inspector also reported that the first officer never advised the captain to stop the airplane or use caution in the "tight area."

Contributing factors

  • cause Flight crew
  • cause Incorrect use/operation

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 210/16kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.