What happened
On December 17, 2010, at approximately 10:30 local time, a Bombardier Aerospace Canadair CL-600-2C10 (registration D-ACPE), operated by Lufthansa Regional, was positioned at a de-icing stand at Prague/Ruzyně Airport. Due to ongoing winter maintenance on the runway, the flight crew requested taxi instructions from Prague Ground to return to their parking stand.
After receiving clearance from Air Traffic Control, the crew initiated taxiing. During the movement, the aircraft's left winglet struck the basket of a de-icing vehicle. The crew noted an unusual sound from the nose gear area and observed a ground worker waving urgently, at which point they brought the aircraft to a halt. The collision resulted in damage to the left winglet, rendering the aircraft unable to continue further flight operations.
The investigation
The ÚZPLN investigation established that a ramp agent had previously connected to the aircraft via headset to communicate with the crew. The agent had placed a wheel chock in front of the nose gear before leaving the aircraft to check runway status from his vehicle.
While the ramp agent was at his vehicle, the aircraft began to move. Although the agent attempted to signal the crew to stop, the collision had already occurred. Witnesses from the de-icing vehicle crews confirmed that the aircraft began taxiing without any prior coordination or signal from the ground personnel. The operator of the de-icing vehicle on the left side of the aircraft attempted to maneuver the basket away to avoid the impact, but was unable to prevent the contact.
Findings
- The flight crew initiated taxiing without coordinating with the ground personnel present at the de-icing stand.
- The ramp agent had placed a chock under the nose gear but had disconnected the headset to retrieve information from his vehicle.
- There was no communication between the flight crew and the ground staff regarding the movement of the aircraft.
- A lack of coordination between the flight crew and ground personnel was the primary cause of the incident.