What happened
On June 11, 2003, at 11:05 UTC, a Boeing 737-20 and registration I-JETC was parked at stand A 9 at Catania Fontanarossa Airport. The aircraft was in the process of passenger boarding for a scheduled flight operated by Airone S.p.A. During this time, a mobile passenger stair unit, operated by Alitalia Airport S.p.A., was maneuvering toward the adjacent stand A 10 to assist an Airbus A319.
While approaching its intended destination, the stair unit struck the tail section of the Boeing 737-200. The impact, caused by the edge of the unit's rain canopy, resulted in extensive damage to the right elevator. The damage was severe enough that the aircraft could not perform a ferry flight without replacing the elevator component. There were no injuries to the 44 people on board the aircraft, though passengers had to be disembarked and rebooked on other flights.
The investigation
The ANSV investigation examined the movement of the ramp vehicle and the training status of the operator. The operator was a 61-year-old employee undergoing "on the job" training at the time of the incident. While the operator claimed that a sudden medical episode caused him to inadvertently reverse his maneuver and strike the aircraft, investigators noted discrepancies in this account.
Analysis of the aircraft positions showed that stands A 9 and A 10 were parallel, with approximately 10 meters of clearance between the wingtips of the aircraft. Investigators determined that the impact point—the front left edge of the stair unit's canopy—suggested the vehicle did not actually reverse, but rather maintained a trajectory that brought it too close to the parked Boeing 737-200.