Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Indianapolis International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Indianapolis, Indiana 46241
Sunday, September 23, 2001 19:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane rolled forward when it was disconnected from its tow, pinning and seriously injuring a wing walker. Hand signals were being used rather than headphones during the night push back. The wing walker stated that the hand signal to set brakes was given to the captain who in turn returned the set brakes hand signal. According to the captain, the last hand signal that he saw was to start engines. After starting the number one engine, the first officer felt the airplane move forward. The first officer stated that he asked the captain if the parking brake was supposed to be set at which time the captain looked down and set it. The tug driver signaled a problem and the engine was shut down. The airplane's Before Start Checklist stipulates the setting of the parking brake before engine start.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the inadequate crew/group coordination and the parking brakes not set by the pilot in command.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/23/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Indianapolis |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46241 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Indianapolis International |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 797 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1921 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IND |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 794 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 1 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 40 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12734 |
| NTSB Notification Source | United Airlines |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 26 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2003 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Indianapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N570UA |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA331 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 757-222 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 26678 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 241000 |
| 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 | 191 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 14 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1321 |
| Airframe Hours | 31142 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | United Airlines |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 66100 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chicago |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60666 |
| 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 | UALA |
| 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 Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | IND |
| Departure City | Indianapolis |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1915 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ORD |
| Destination City | Chicago |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi - pushback/tow |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2002 8:58AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |