Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sky Harbor International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Phoenix, Arizona 85034
Saturday, July 24, 1999 8:05 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was over 30 minutes late due to repeated delays when a mechanic told the captain that a serviceable part on his aircraft needed to be swapped out with one from another aircraft. The captain said at this point he was angry and his blood pressure was 'up to the stroke level.' Minutes later, the mechanic told the captain that maintenance control had decided not to change parts and the aircraft was 'all closed up and ready to go.' The captain thought that this meant the aircraft doors, while the mechanic meant that all maintenance access doors were secured. Neither the captain nor the first officer checked the door status lights on the overhead panel or the EICAS display, and both were unaware that a gate agent was still onboard trying to rectify an oversold passenger situation. The L2 door was open and the jet bridge was still attached to the airplane. The captain then asked the tug driver if they were ready to go. The captain said he heard the tug driver say that all doors and access panels are closed, while the tug driver said that he replied that all service doors and cargo doors, except for the jet bridge, were secured and locked. The captain then told the tug driver they were clear to pushback. The tug driver signaled the wing walkers and then began the pushback, damaging the jet bridge, the L2 door, a section of aircraft skin, and the L2 evacuation slide. After the accident, the right wing walker said that he had not given the tug driver the all clear signal required by company policy prior to pushback. The left wing walker assumed that the something was wrong with the jet bridge since the captain had ordered a pushback and signaled the driver that the ramp was clear.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the flight crew and the tug driver to verify that the aircraft was properly configured for pushback. Factors in the accident were the left wing walker's failure to notify the tug driver of his observations that the jet bridge was still in contact with the aircraft, and, self induced pressure on the part of the captain created by a chain of circumstances surrounding the numerous delays.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 805 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | PHOENIX |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85034 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SKY HARBOR INTERNATIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PHX |
| 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 | 1135 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 756 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1135 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 196 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1825 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 8 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 855 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 27 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N910AW |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA322 |
| 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 | 757-2G7 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 757-2G7 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24523 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 240000 |
| 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 | 196 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 7 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 123 |
| Airframe Hours | 40681 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILMINGTON TRUST COMPANY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ATN CORP, TR ADM |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19890 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AMERICA WEST AIRLINES, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4000 EAST SKY HARBOR BOULEVARD |
| Operator City | PHOENIX |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 85034 |
| Operator Code | AWXA |
| 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 | PHX |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 805 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SAN |
| Destination City | SAN DIEGO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| 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 | -- |