Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Indianapolis Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Indianapolis, Indiana 46241
Wednesday, January 31, 1990 23:50 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE BOEING 727 WAS CHOCKED AWAITING A TUG. A MECHANIC/RAMP EMPLOYEE BROUGHT A TUG AND TOW BAR TO THE AIRCRAFT. AFTER APPROACHING THE AIRCRAFT, HE STOPPED THE TUG, DISCONNECTED THE TOW BAR FROM THE TUG AND CONNECTED IT TO THE NOSE GEAR OF THE AIRCRAFT. HE RE-BOARDED THE TUG TO BRING IT CLOSER TO THE TOW BAR FOR ATTACHMENT. RATHER THAN STOPPING, THE TUG CONTINUED FORWARD AND CONTACTED THE BAR, WHICH SLID OFF THE FACE OF THE TUG. THE TUG CONTINUED FORWARD AND CONTACT WAS MADE WITH THE UNDERSIDE OF THE AIRCRAFT'S NOSE, CRUSHING THE EMPLOYEE BETWEEN THE TUG AND THE AIRPLANE. THE TUG DRIVER WAS WEARING A BUILT-UP SHOE ON HIS RIGHT FOOT. TESTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE ACCIDENT REVEALED THAT WITH THE SHOE PLACED UNDER THE BRAKE PEDAL OF THE TUG, BRAKING ACTION OF THE TUG WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO STOP THE VEHICLE. SCUFF MARKS AND SIGNS OF SCRAPING WERE NOTED ON THE TOE OF THE BOOT, THOUGH THE SOURCE OF THE SCRAPE/SCUFF MARKS WAS NOT VERIFIED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE TUG OPERATOR'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE TUG, POSSIBLY DUE TO HAVING INADVERTENTLY PLACED OR CAUGHT HIS BUILT-UP, STEEL-TOE BOOT UNDER THE BRAKE PEDAL.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/31/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2350 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | INDIANAPOLIS |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46241 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | INDIANAPOLIS INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IND |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2350 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IND |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 780 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 1 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 6 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1009 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 1 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 42230 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 16 2006 10:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N519FT |
| NTSB Number | CHI90FA075 |
| 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 | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | 727 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 727 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 19387 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 169500 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AVIATION SALES COMPANY INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7840 N.W. 67TH STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | MIAMI |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33166 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | FEDERAL EXPRESS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 727 |
| Operator City | MEMPHIS |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 38194 |
| Operator Code | FDEA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DTW |
| Departure City | DETROIT |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | IND |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 21 2008 4:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| 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 | -- |