Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Philadelphia Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19153
Tuesady, January 6, 1998 12:10 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had just been pushed back from the gate. As the flight crew were taxiing in a non-movement area, the airplane and a tug collided. The captain felt the impact, but thought the airplane had experienced a blown tire. Neither he nor any of the cockpit crew saw the tug before impact. All witnesses stated that the tug did not brake or swerve prior to the collision. Examination of the damaged tug and its maintenance forms revealed no mechanical problems. No deficiencies were found in the driver's training jacket. After a 2 week vacation, this was the driver's first day back on the job. He was driving the tug since 0430, without any reported mechanical problems. The emergency room doctor stated that there was no symptoms detected of any medical events which could have caused the driver to lose consciousness. The driver recalled that 'while driving the tug, he dropped his water container, and the last thing he could remember was reaching down for it.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the tug driver to see-and-avoid the taxiing airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/6/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | PHILADELPHIA |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19153 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PHILADELPHIA INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PHL |
| 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 | 22 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1151 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 22 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 114 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 147 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 6 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1245 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 10:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N845AA |
| NTSB Number | IAD98LA021 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| 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 | 727-223 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 727-223 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20986 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 178000 |
| 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 | 159 |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 7 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 378 |
| Airframe Hours | 58983 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMERICAN AIRLINES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4333 AMON CARTER BLVD |
| Aircraft Owner City | FORT WORTH |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76155 |
| 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 | AALA |
| 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 | 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 | PHL |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1158 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DFW |
| Destination City | DALLAS/FT WORTH |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2002 12:42PM |
| 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 | -- |