AN MD11 HITS ITS L WINGTIP AGAINST THAT OF A PARKED B777 WHILE UNDER CTL OF WING WALKERS AND A MARSHALLER AT DFW; TX.
Synopsis
AN MD11 HITS ITS L WINGTIP AGAINST THAT OF A PARKED B777 WHILE UNDER CTL OF WING WALKERS AND A MARSHALLER AT DFW; TX.
Narrative
DURING TAXI IN TO GATE AT DFW; L WINGLET STRUCK UNDERSIDE OF B777 WING PARKED AT NEXT GATE. WHILE HOLDING SHORT OF GATE ON RAMP; I CHKED FLT MANUAL PART II AND SAW NO RESTR ON PARKING AT ADJOINING WDB GATES. WHILE TAXIING IN; I WAS CONTINUALLY LINED UP PROPERLY ON THE MD11 LEAD-IN PANEL. I ALSO HAD A CONTINUAL THUMBS-UP SIGNAL FROM L WING WALKER; AND HAD A CONTINUAL GREEN LIGHT ON LEAD-IN PANEL UNTIL RED LIGHT ILLUMINATED FOR NORMAL PARKING; COINCIDING WITH RED MD11 STOP PANEL. THE WINGTIPS OF BOTH ACFT ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE WHERE THEY WOULD STRIKE DUE TO THE POS OF THE JETBRIDGE WE FELT NOTHING IN THE COCKPIT AND WERE AWARE OF THE STRIKE ONLY UPON NOTIFICATION BY GND PERSONNEL. AFTER COMPLETION OF COCKPIT DUTIES; I WENT DOWN TO CHK ON DAMAGE TO ACFT. I THEN VERIFIED THAT I HAD PARKED ON THE CTR OF THE LEAD-IN LINE AND STOPPED AT THE MD11 STOP LINE. I QUESTIONED A MAINT SUPVR ABOUT WHY THE WING WALKER KEPT GIVING ME A THUMBS-UP AND WHY GUIDE MAN CONTINUED TO GIVE ME A GREEN LIGHT. HE RESPONDED BY TELLING ME THAT EVERYONE HAD SCATTERED BUT THAT THE GND PERSONNEL WERE WATCHING FOR RAMP TFC AND HAD FAILED TO WATCH THE 2 WINGS OF THE ACFT. I SUGGEST THAT SOMEONE MEASURE DISTANCES ON ALL GATES WHERE WDB ACFT PARK ADJACENT TO EACH OTHER. I ALSO SUGGEST THAT WING WALKERS/GUIDE MEN BE TRAINED TO OBSERVE WINGTIPS OF ADJACENT GATE ACFT -- ESPECIALLY IF THE ACFT VIEW IS BLOCKED IN THE COCKPIT BY YOUR JETBRIDGE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.