Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Denver International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denver, Colorado 80239
Saturday, August 8, 1998 14:55 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft was pushed back from the gate and the crew set the parking brake. They notified the ground crew that they were cleared to disconnect the tug from the aircraft. The flight crew received a clearance by Ramp Control and began to taxi. The nose wheel of the aircraft then ran over one of the ground crewman's legs. According to the injured crewman, the tow bar connection to the aircraft was jammed. He disconnected the tow bar from the tug, and went to release the tow bar from the airplane's nose. He noticed the aircraft start to move, then roll over his legs. According to him, at no time following his braking instructions to the flight crew did he give them a clearance signal to initiate taxi. According to cockpit voice transcripts, a crew member replied, 'I apologize, I thought we were clear' after being told of the accident. The tow bar was still attached to the aircraft and the tug was still directly in front of the aircraft immediately following the accident. Neither the airline nor the ramp contractor's pushback procedures provide instructions for communications should there be a problem with the tow bar disconnect process. This was a contract operation with a weekly frequency.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the flight crew to comply with braking instructions after being instructed by ground personnel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/8/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1455 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | DENVER |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80239 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | 1553 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8693 |
| 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 | 180 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1115 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 8 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1630 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:42AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N302ML |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA351 |
| 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 | Airbus Industrie |
| Aircraft Model | A-320-231 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A320-231 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 338 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 166447 |
| 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 | 180 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 22 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 142 |
| Airframe Hours | 14766 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ORIX LEASING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | SUITE 110A, QUORUM BAENWELL DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | CAMBRIDGE CBS |
| Aircraft Owner State | UK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PRIME AIR, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 680 THORTON WAY |
| Operator City | LITHIA SPRINGS |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 30122 |
| Operator Code | P9RA |
| 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 | International |
| 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 | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CUN |
| Destination City | CANCUN |
| Destination State | MX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2001 1:03PM |
| 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 | -- |