Mccarran International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Las Vegas, Nevada 89119
Sunday, December 22, 1996 18:00 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The ramp agent was functioning as the 'talker' during the push back operation and his headset was plugged into the aircraft at the nose wheel well. The agent realized he had forgotten his lighted hand wands and moved to the wheel well to unplug his headset from the aircraft just as the tug driver started pushing the aircraft back from the gate. The injured agent's foot and ankle were run over and crushed by one of the nose wheel tires.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the ramp agent's failure to maintain a good situational awareness of the push-back. A factor was the dark night lighting conditions and the general communication failure of the ground push-back crew.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/22/1996
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City LAS VEGAS
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89119
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LAS
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1856 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID LAS
Elevation of weather observation facility 2175
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 24
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 1
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 339
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1605
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 22 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1830
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N151SY
NTSB Number LAX97LA073
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name McDonnell Douglas
Aircraft Model DC-10-15
Aircraft Series Identifier DC-10-15
Aircraft Serial Number 48295
Certified Max Gross Weight 455000
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 0
Number of Engines 3
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Dec 22 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 5
Airframe Hours 32178
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WILMINGTON TRUST CO. TRUSTEE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1100 N. MARKET ST. RODNEY SQ.
Aircraft Owner City WILMINGTON
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19890
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 2520 PILOT KNOB ROAD, #250
Operator City MENDOTA HEIGHTS
Operator State MN
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 55120
Operator Code SCNA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code LAS
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code DET
Destination City DETROIT
Destination State MI
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --