Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Logan International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boston, Massachusetts 02128
Tuesady, February 6, 2001 12:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During engine start, while being pushed back, both engines went to a high power setting. The airplane pushed forward against the tow bar, sheared a pin, bent the tow bar, and struck the tug. Before engine start, maintenance personnel had conducted an automated check which included automatic movements of the control wheel and throttles. The flight crew returned to their seats while the test was being conducted. At the completion of the test, the airplane was returned to service and maintenance personnel departed the cockpit. The captain initiated the BEFORE STARTING ENGINES checklist without either pilot first completing a cockpit flow setup as required by company procedures. The checklist was then interrupted by a cockpit visitor and a non-pertinent conversation took place for 3 1/2 minutes. When the checklist was resumed, several items had been missed. As the checklist was continued, the call out THRUST LEVERS was made by the first officer, and the correct response of CLOSED was given by the captain. Push back was initiated, and the captain verbalized starting the first engine as required by the checklist. As the first engine was being started, the captain initiated another non-pertinent conversation with the first officer. The second engine was then started without verbalization as required by company checklist procedures. Although company checklist procedures made both pilots responsible for ensuring a normal start, neither pilot detected that the engines were accelerating above normal idle. According to follow-up testing, the engines accelerated to a power setting that corresponded to the last position of the throttles at the completion of the automated test by maintenance.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the flight crew to follow the checklist prior to engine start, and their subsequent diverted attention during engine start.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/6/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Boston |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02128 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 422206N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0710054W |
| Event Location Airport | Logan International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BOS |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1154 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BOS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 20 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.74 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -1112 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 30 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10563 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 6 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 26 2001 10:21AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Boston, Massachusetts |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1457B |
| NTSB Number | NYC01LA077 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Fokker |
| Aircraft Model | F28 MK 0100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11469 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 98000 |
| 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 | 94 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 9 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 864 |
| Airframe Hours | 18871 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | American Airlines, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 619616, MD 5661 |
| Aircraft Owner City | DFW Airport |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75261 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | AALA |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BOS |
| Departure City | Boston |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DCA |
| Destination City | Washington |
| Destination State | DC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing - starting engine(s) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 4 2001 12:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |