2007-12 · NASA ASRS report 767887
ACR MLG PUSHBACK INCIDENT RESULTED IN THE WINGLET STRIKING THE TAIL OF A PARKED LGT.
I WAS THE FO ON A FLT DEPARTING NEW YORK JFK. OUR AIRCRAFT WAS AN MLG WITH WINGLETS. AS WE BEGAN TO PUSHBACK FROM GATE; WE FELT A BUMP AND ROLLED TOWARD THE JETWAY. THE TUG DRIVER TOLD THE CAPT TO SET PARKING BRAKE. THE CAPT ASKED; 'WHAT HAPPENED?' WE WERE TOLD THAT THE TOW BAR BROKE WHILE PUSHING BACK. AFTER A FEW MINUTES; THEY PUT ON ANOTHER TOW BAR AND WE CONTINUED WITH THE PUSHBACK. AFTER PUSHING US BACK; THE DRIVER THEN BEGAN TO PULL US TO OUR ASSIGNED STARTING POINT. THERE WAS AN LGT PARKED AT GATE X WHICH IS CLOSER THAN MOST GATES AT MOST AIRPORTS. THE CAPT TOLD THE TUG DRIVER TO TAKE YOUR TIME WE ARE NOT IN A HURRY; AND USE CAUTION WITH REGARDS TO THE LGT.' HE ALSO TOLD THE DRIVER NOT TO FOLLOW THE YELLOW LINE; AS IT LEADS TOO CLOSE TO THE PARKED AIRCRAFT ON GATE X. THE DRIVER ACKNOWLEDGED BOTH STATEMENTS; AND SAID HE WAS WATCHING HIS WING WALKER. I LOOKED OUT MY WINDOW; AND THE WING WALKER WAS INDICATING THE WING WAS CLEAR. AS THE TUG DRIVER CONTINUED TO PULL US; HE STOPPED; BACKED US UP; AND THEN CONTINUED PULLING US. WE THEN FELT A SUDDEN STOP. THE DRIVER THEN SAID; 'WE MAY HAVE HIT A WING WITH THE LGT;' AND THAT THE WING WALKER INDICATED THE WING WAS CLEAR THE WHOLE TIME. THE CAPTAIN SET THE PARKING BRAKE. AT THIS POINT FROM THE COCKPIT; THE WING LOOKED TO BE AROUND 10 FEET FROM THE TAIL OF THE LGT. WE WERE THEN TOLD THAT THE WINGLET HAD IN FACT HIT THE TAIL OF THE LGT. AFTER INVESTIGATION FROM MAINTENANCE; THE TUG AND TOW BAR WERE REPLACED AND WE WERE PUSHED BACK TO GATE WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. PERHAPS; THE TUG DRIVER MAY HAVE FELT HURRIED AFTER BREAKING THE FIRST TOW BAR. ALSO; IN MY OPINION; THE YELLOW TAXI LINE WHICH LEADS PAST GATES X AND Y TO GATE Z IS MISLEADING AND CAN CAUSE AN AIRCRAFT TO HIT A PARKED PLANE IF FOLLOWED.CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: REPORTER STATED THAT THE INITIAL PUSHBACK WAS NOT AS FAR INTO THE ALLEY AS THE NORMAL PUSH. AFTER THE TOW BAR BROKE; THE TUG DRIVER APPARENTLY FELT RUSHED; EVEN THOUGH THE CAPT ATTEMPTED TO SLOW HIS ACTIONS. THE GATE FROM WHICH THE ACFT PUSHED IS A CORNER GATE; AND CAREFUL MANEUVERING IS THEN REQUIRED TO PULL THE ACFT UP TO THE ENG START POINT. REPORTER FELT THAT THE YELLOW TAXI LINES DO NOT ALLOW SUFFICIENT CLEARANCE FROM PARKED ACFT. THE REPORTER'S ACFT RECEIVED A GASH IN THE WINGLET; AND A STATIC WICK WAS DAMAGED ON THE LGT WHEN CONTACT WAS MADE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
Loading the flight search…
Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.
We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.
Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.
Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.