What happened
On 27 June 1999, at approximately 09:40 UTC, a Boeing 737-436, registration G-DOCH, was parked at Stand 6 of Aberdeen Airport. While the aircraft was stationary, a driver operating a set of motorised passenger steps was positioned behind the aircraft. The driver had been assigned to service a different aircraft, a Boeing 757, located at the adjacent Stand 7.
As the driver moved the motorised steps forward toward the next stand, the vehicle collided with the tip of the aircraft's starboard horizontal stabiliser. The force of the impact was significant enough to be felt by the crew on the flight deck and caused a member of the cabin crew inside the aircraft to lose their balance and fall.
The investigation
Following the incident, airport management conducted an inspection of the area surrounding the stands. The investigation focused on the positioning of the aircraft and the path of the ground vehicle. It was established that the Boeing 737-436 had been parked approximately one metre short of the designated stand stop mark. Because the aircraft had not reached the full stop position, the trailing edge tips of the horizontal stabiliser were protruding over the white roadway line that marks the rear boundary of the stand.
Findings
- The collision resulted in serious damage to the tip of the starboard horizontal stabiliser.
- The primary contributing factor was the incorrect positioning of the aircraft, which left the stabiliser protruding into the active roadway area.