John Wayne/Orange County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Ana, California 92707
Tuesady, May 20, 2003 12:10 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

An unattended crash fire rescue (CFR) vehicle rolled into a stationary jet awaiting instructions from the control tower. Following a medical aid call in the terminal, an airport firefighter was dispatched to the terminal where he parked his CFR vehicle at one of the gates. The driver of the vehicle was in the terminal at the time of the accident and did not remember setting the parking brake on his vehicle. He also forgot to place the anti-roll tire chocks under his vehicle before entering the terminal. The vehicle then rolled into the jet that was stationary on a taxiway. During the impact, the vehicle became lodged between the fuselage and wing root on the right side of the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the vehicle driver's failure to deploy the parking brake or use wheel chocks to secure the vehicle prior to leaving it unattended.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/20/2003
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1210
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Santa Ana
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92707
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 334054N
Event Location Longitude 1175209W
Event Location Airport John Wayne/Orange County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SNA
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 49
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1153 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID SNA
Elevation of weather observation facility 49
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 20000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.94
Density Altitude (feet) 1084
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 103
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16360
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 20 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1230
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Long Beach FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N692AA
NTSB Number LAX03LA167
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 Boeing
Aircraft Model 757-223
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 36972
Certified Max Gross Weight 255000
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 182
Number of Engines 2
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 AMERICAN AIRLINES INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4333 Amon Carter
Aircraft Owner City Fort Worth
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76155
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 Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code SNA
Departure City Santa Ana
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code JFK
Destination City New York
Destination State NY
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi - to takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 20 2008 9:21AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\HAMG
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --