What happened
On 19 December 2013, a Boeing 777-20 and registration 9V-SRP was docking at bay F37 of Changi Airport following a scheduled flight from Mumbai. As the aircraft was establishing itself on the centerline of the bay, its left engine ingested an empty cargo container mounted on a dolly. The impact caused serious damage to the engine, necessitating a full replacement. No injuries were reported during the incident.
Prior to the arrival, an equipment operator from a ground service provider had placed two baggage trailers and the cargo container in the equipment restraint area (ERA) of bay F37. The operator had intended to move this equipment to an adjacent bay, but because the designated staging area was full, the items were left temporarily in the F37 zone. The operator subsequently left the area to attend to other tasks, unaware that the aircraft was approaching.
The investigation
The investigation examined the sequence of events leading to the obstruction in the parking bay. It was established that while the ground arrival crew had performed an initial inspection of the area approximately 15 minutes before the aircraft's arrival, they did not maintain continuous surveillance of the ERA.
Investigators also looked into the functionality of the Aircraft Docking Guidance System (ADGS). It was found that the system appeared to malfunction initially, causing the pilot-in-command to momentarily halt the aircraft. However, the issue was traced back to an inexperienced technician who had not selected the correct aircraft type on the operator panel, rather than a mechanical failure of the system itself.
Simulations conducted by investigators suggested that while the flight crew had a reasonably good view of the bay, the presence of the cargo container and trailers obscured key visual markers, such as the passenger loading bridge safety lines and aerobridge wheels, which could have served as indicators of an obstruction.
Findings
- The primary cause of the incident was the placement of a cargo container and baggage trailers within the equipment restraint area of the active parking bay.
- The ground service arrival crew failed to continue monitoring the area for obstructions after their initial pre-arrival check was completed.
- The flight crew did not detect the equipment within the ERA during the docking process.
- Congestion in adjacent staging areas led the equipment operator to utilize the ERA of an occupied bay.
- Inexperience with the ADGS operator panel led to a temporary display issue that distracted the pilot during the final approach.