Incident Overview
On June 16, 2011, at approximately 1758 Pacific daylight time, United Airlines flight 818, a Boeing 757-200 with registration N571UA, sustained substantial damage during initial pushback from gate 73 at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, California. The aircraft was operating a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight to Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois. There were no injuries to the 188 passengers and crew on board.
Sequence of Events
According to United representatives, normal passenger and crew boarding was accomplished using door 2L. The passenger loading bridge (PLB) operator stated that she was positioned at the loading bridge controls and prepared to retract the bridge. She reported that the airplane door was closed and the loading bridge canopy was retracted. The PLB operator indicated she was waiting for hand signal guidance from ramp personnel to retract the bridge from the airplane. However, the signal to retract the bridge was not received, and the ramp personnel proceeded to push back the airplane.
The ramp employee responsible for the pushback reported that he heard the PLB bell ringing for about one minute, which he believed was sufficient time for the jetway to be cleared from the aircraft. He then removed the wheel chocks, received clearance from the flight crew, and commenced the pushback.
Aircraft Damage
As a result of the impact with the jetway, the aircraft sustained a 38-inch by 8.5-inch hole in the fuselage between Fuselage Station (FS) 490 and FS 528 and stringers S-17L and S-18L. The damage also affected frame assemblies and stringers in that area.