Lambert St. Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Saint Louis, Missouri 63101
Saturday, July 25, 1998 17:57 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Trans World Airlines (TWA) flight 150 had just landed and was taxing to the gate. A sweeper truck was stopped on taxiway 'A' across from taxiway 'T', with the operator out of the truck picking up debris. The flight crew saw the truck and operator, but the first officer 'determined that the sweeper was located well clear of our aircrafts path.' The aircraft struck the sweeper truck. The flight crew thought they hit a pothole, and did not report it to Air Traffic Control (ATC). Another TWA flight saw the sweeper operator on the ground and notified ATC.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the failure of the flight crew to maintain clearance from the sweeper truck. A factor in the incident was the sweeper truck.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 7/25/1998
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1757
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City SAINT LOUIS
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63101
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LAMBERT ST. LOUIS
Event Location Nearest Airport ID STL
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 604
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1653 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID STL
Elevation of weather observation facility 604
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 13000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
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 Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 1
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 148
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5028
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 25 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2215
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9620D
NTSB Number CHI98IA275
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 McDonnell Douglas
Aircraft Model MD-83
Aircraft Series Identifier MD-83
Aircraft Serial Number 53591
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2338
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name FIRST SECURITY BANK NA OWNER
Aircraft Owner Street Address 79 SOUTH MAIN STREET
Aircraft Owner City SALT LAKE CITY
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84111
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name TRANS WORLD AIRLINES
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 11495 NATURAL BRIDGE ROAD
Operator City SAINT LOUIS
Operator State MO
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 63044
Operator Code
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 No
Departure Airport Code LAX
Departure City LOS ANGELES
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code STL
Destination City
Destination State
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 --