2010-05 · NASA ASRS report 891234
The winglet of a CRJ200 being marshaled into a gate with two Marshallers struck the leading edge of a Saab 340 damaging both aircraft.
Taxiing into our gate we had to hold short to wait to be marshaled in because of a fuel truck at the neighboring gate and no Marshallers. I informed the passengers to remain seated with their seatbelts fastened. Once we got two Marshallers (one on the nose and one on the left side); we slowly proceeded into the gate. We both commented that the clearance looked close so the Captain slowed the taxi even more. I had my head pressed against the window trying to get a better view and the Marshaller out front continued to wave us into the turn while giving us the 'yes' nod. As the winglet approached the wing of the SAAB-340; it appeared that we had at least a couple feet of clearance between the winglet and the wingtip. We contacted the leading edge of the SAAB's right wing with our right winglet about 10 inches down the winglet and about 10 inches inside the wingtip of the SAAB. The Marshaller in front actually tried to keep turning us because he didn't see that we struck the other aircraft. The winglet folded over on the line of rivets about 8 inches down and we stopped just as the winglet cleared the trailing edge of the SAAB. The brake was set and I immediately told the passengers to remain seated as we assessed the situation. We asked the Flight Attendant if anyone was hurt (no one was) and called Operations for managers and buses. Dispatch and Maintenance was called and we proceeded to deplane after the buses had arrived. After deplaning we walked outside and conferred with the crew of the SAAB who informed us they didn't think they should have been parked on their spot due to this exact issue. Both aircraft were exactly on the lead-in lines. The angle of viewing the wingtip out the side window is very misleading and it is difficult to judge exact distances. The Captain and I both commented that if a piece of equipment or a vehicle was in question of being contacted; we would not have proceeded. We made the assumption that if there is an aircraft properly parked on the line; we should be ensured clearance. I was shadowing the brakes during the lead in as I always do and didn't even have time to apply them before we made contact. At this airport tolerances between aircraft are tight and we always use caution when making the turn. The visual I had on the wingtip looked the same as if there were an RJ parked next to us which would have resulted in 3-4 feet of clearance. It was more difficult to judge because of the dihedral on the SAAB raising the wingtip to almost the top of the winglet on the RJ and the lack of end profile on the SAAB vs. a winglet equipped RJ. We never would have proceeded to taxi the aircraft into the gate had we suspected the clearance was too tight or had gotten a questioning signal from the Marshaller.
The First Officer was watching outside his window and indicated that it looked close but was clear. The Marshaller continued to motion us forward and the First Officer had his head pressed up against the window to see as far as he could as we started to make the corner. At this point we had slowed our taxi speed so slow that the Marshaller began to nod his head; as to indicate that we were still clear. As we began the turn we heard and felt the collision of the wingtips. We learned; from talking to the Saab Captain after the incident; turboprops were not to be parked on their spot due to wingtip clearance issues. It appears as if the Marshaller was trying to guide us into our spot by having our wingtip pass underneath the wingtip of the Saab. We did not know the ground crew was attempting to squeeze us in by doing this. From sitting in the First Officer's seat and looking at his perspective; it is nearly impossible to determine the depth and clearance issues in this event.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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