Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Houston Intercontinental Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Houston, Texas 77059
Sunday, April 20, 1997 16:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
An Air France Boeing 767 was number one in sequence for takeoff at the runup area for runway 14L. The Air France flight reported that they were not ready for takeoff. KLM flight 662 was cleared by ATC to taxi into position and hold for departure on 14L. While taxiing around the standing Air France 767, the extended right outboard leading edge flap from the KLM 747 impacted the left wing tip of the Air France 767, resulting in minor damage to both airplanes. Airport operations personnel reported that no fuel was spilled from either aircraft and both airplanes taxied back to their respective gates. Air France's maintenance personnel replaced the left wing navigation light assembly from the 767 and the airplane was released and departed approximately 3 hours after the intended departure time. According to the FAA inspector at the site, the wing tip is visible from the cockpit of the 747. Additionally, he stated that the side window was crazed. The scheduled departure time for KLM flight 662 was 1540.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The first officer's failure to maintain clearance while taxiing around a standing airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 4/20/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1615 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | HOUSTON |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77059 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | HOUSTON INTERCONTINENTAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IAH |
| 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 | 98 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IAH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 98 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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 | 299 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5025 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 20 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1736 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 13 2003 4:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | PHBUL |
| NTSB Number | FTW97IA161 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 129: Foreign |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 747-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 747-300 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Foreign Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 4 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J.H. MEURER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 565 TAXTER ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | ELMSFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 10523 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | KLM |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | IAH |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EHAM |
| Destination City | AMSTERDAM |
| Destination State | OF |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 13 2003 4:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 14R |
| Runway Length | 6038 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |