Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
San Francisco Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Francisco, California 94128
Thursday, June 6, 1996 22:05 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
At night, a tail-to-tail ground collision occurred in an alleyway between an outbound United Boeing 737, N371UA, and an outbound American Boeing 767, N335AA. At the time, the B-737 was under tug control while being pushed back without the aid of wing walkers from gate number 77. The United B-767 was beginning to taxi from the same alleyway following its earlier uneventful pushback with the aid of wing walkers from gate number 63. According to the B-737's tug driver, during pushback she had observed a nearby food service truck and had initially slowed her speed to ensure its passage. Thereafter, she continued pushing the B-737 toward the designed alleyway location. Suddenly, an impact occurred and the tug driver for the first time observed an American B-767 was already located in the alleyway. United management reported that during pushback operations it was the tug driver's responsibility to ensure that adequate clearance existed. Nine months earlier United management was aware that aircraft utilizing its gate number 77 did not have the minimum 25-foot aircraft wing tip clearance as required by the City of San Francisco. City personnel agreed to allow United gate usage provided United 'guarantee the use of wing walkers.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
inadequate visual lookout by the United Airlines tug driver during the pushback operation. Contributing factors were: the driver's reduced ability to observe the American B-767 due to the nighttime condition, and United Airlines management's failure to ensure that safety procedures were followed.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/6/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2205 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SAN FRANCISCO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94128 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SAN FRANCISCO INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SFO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 11 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 220 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1285 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 6 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2245 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 7 2001 12:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N371UA | N335AA |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA222A | LAX96LA222B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Substantial | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 737-322 | 767-223 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 737-322 | 767-223 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24540 | 22333 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 130000 | 352200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 133 | 173 |
| Number of Engines | 2 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 17 1995 12:00AM | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 18843 | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILMINGTON TRUST CO. TRUSTEE | WILMINGTON TRUST CO. TRUSTEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RODNEY SQ. N. CORP. TRUST ADM. | RODNEY SQ. N. CORP. TRUST ADM. |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19890 | 19890 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | UNITED AIRLINES, INC. | AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 66100 | P.O. BOX 619616 |
| Operator City | ELK GROVE | DFW AIRPORT |
| Operator State | IL | TX |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 60666 | 75261 |
| Operator Code | UALA | AALA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SFO | SFO |
| Departure City | ||
| Departure State | ||
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 2205 | 2200 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SEA | JFK |
| Destination City | SEATTLE | NEW YORK CITY |
| Destination State | WA | NY |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |