Aircraft and Flight Details
A Bombardier Challenger 350, registration LN-JHH, with two Honeywell HTF7350 turbofan engines, was involved in an accident on 30 May 2023 at 0850 UTC at Dundee Airport. The aircraft, manufactured in 2017, was conducting a commercial air transport flight with three crew members and no passengers. The commander held an Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence, was 55 years old, and had 8,100 total flight hours, including 700 on type.
Event Sequence
The aircraft landed on Runway 27 at 0847 UTC and was instructed to vacate via Taxiway B and park nose to the south on Stand 1B, guided by a marshaller. Weather was daytime with CAVOK conditions. A marshaller was positioned at the head of the stand, and two wing spotters were stationed on the edge of the apron. Another aircraft was already parked on adjacent Stand 1A.
As the marshaller directed the aircraft onto the apron, the left wingtip collided with a lamppost on the apron edge. CCTV evidence showed that the wing spotters began signalling the aircraft to stop four seconds before the collision. However, the marshaller was focused on the aircraft, and the flight crew were watching the marshaller, so neither saw the signals. The winglet on the left wing sustained damage, and the aircraft came to an abrupt halt.
Post-occurrence Actions
The airport operator, following its investigation, noted that a white hatched area on the apron is intended as a safety buffer zone and that no part of the aircraft should enter it during manoeuvring. Plans were announced to instruct wing spotters to stand on the outer edge of the buffer zone rather than in line with the lampposts, review marshalling training, consider direct headset communication between marshaller and wing spotters, and evaluate a two-stage marshalling process for similar circumstances. The aircraft operator issued an Operational Order reminding pilots of standard marshalling signals.
Analysis and Conclusion
The marshaller directed the aircraft too close to the apron edge. From his position at the stand head, judging the distance of the far-side wingtip from the lampposts was difficult. He did not observe the wing spotters’ signals because he was looking at the aircraft. The wing spotter nearest the struck lamppost was obscured by the aircraft. The flight crew also failed to notice the left wingtip’s proximity to the lamppost; the commander noted that the wing sweep made clearance assessment challenging. Their attention was on the marshaller, so they missed the wing spotters’ signals. The collision occurred because neither the flight crew nor the marshaller was aware of the aircraft’s closeness to the lamppost. The wing spotters, positioned to mitigate this risk, were unable to prevent the collision.