Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Denver International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denver, Colorado 80249
Wednesday, June 17, 1998 20:46 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The catering truck driver parked directly behind the airplane, awaiting the arrival of another flight at an adjacent gate. He set the parking brake, turned off the engine, but left the headlights on. He said he was not concerned about parking behind the airplane because the jetway was still in position, the airplane's rotating beacon was not flashing, and another catering truck was servicing the coach section. The other truck then moved around to the front of the airplane to service the first class section. After baggage had been loaded in the forward cargo bin, the belt loader was backed away from the airplane. Normally, the belt loader would then be positioned on the vehicle service road to warn traffic that an airplane was being pushed back. This was not possible because the belt loader was blocked by the catering truck that had backed away from the airplane. The tug operator had made a previous walk-around inspection of the airplane and observed no hazards. He said that prior to pushback, he looked under the airplane one more time and saw no obstacles. He said he did not see the parked catering truck. As the catering truck was backing away from the airplane, pushback began and the airplane collided with the parked catering truck.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate visual lookout by ground personnel (tug operator). Factors include failure of the airline to provide proper assistance (wing walkers) to the tug operator, and inadequate pushback procedures by the airline; inattention of the catering truck driver, and failure of the flight crew to illuminate the rotating beacon prior to or during pushback.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/17/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2046 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | DENVER |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80249 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | DENVER INTERNATIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DEN |
| 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 | 5431 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2045 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| 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) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7978 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 2 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 70 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 720 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 17 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2120 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2001 1:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N364UA |
| NTSB Number | FTW98FA273 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 737-322 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 737-322 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24533 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 130000 |
| 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 | 132 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 16 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 27323 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UNITED AIRLINES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 66100 |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHICAGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60666 |
| 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 | UALA |
| 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 | DEN |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ONT |
| Destination City | ONTARIO |
| Destination State | CA |
| 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 | -- |