Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Washington Dulles Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sterling, Virginia 20166
Friday, May 28, 1999 15:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Boeing 727 was being pushed back by one person, who operated the pushback tug. The tug operator waited for an Airbus to approach the gate next to the pushback airplane and then began the pushback procedure. A catering truck was stopped behind the left wing of the 727, while the truck's driver waited for the Airbus to shut down it's engines. The catering truck driver stated, 'My partner yelled, 'He's moving or something' and instantly I tried to accelerate, but at the same time we were struck on the side and we were turning over...' Ramp personnel in the area observed the airplane heading towards the parked catering truck, and attempted to alert the tug operator. The Boeing 727's left wing struck the aft section of the catering truck. The airplane's left aileron and left wing tip were damaged. The distance from the airplane's left wingtip when parked at the gate, to the north edge of the service road where the catering truck was stopped, was about 75 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate visual lookout by the tug operator. A factor in this accident was inadequate pushback procedures by the airline which failed to provide proper assistance (wing walkers) to the tug operator.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/28/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1510 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | STERLING |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20166 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | WASHINGTON DULLES |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IAD |
| 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 | 313 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1351 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IAD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 313 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 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 | 90 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 949 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 28 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 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 | N282SC |
| NTSB Number | NYC99LA127 |
| 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 | 727 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 727 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 22558 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 190500 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 28 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 9 |
| Airframe Hours | 43670 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GEMANCO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 292 LONG RIDGE ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | STAMFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06927 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2520 PILOT KNOB RD |
| Operator City | MENDOTA HEIGHTS |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 55120 |
| 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/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | IAD |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MSP |
| Destination City | MINNEAPOLIS |
| Destination State | MN |
| 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 | -- |