Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
San Francisco International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Francisco, California 94066
Tuesady, October 7, 2003 11:57 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
An All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 777-281 and a United Airlines (UAL) Boeing 777-22B both sustained substantial damage during an on-ground collision between both airplanes' right wing tips. The collision occurred in a nonmovement area ramp surrounding the G terminal. This ramp area is under the control of a local ground control tower operated by United Airlines. Both aircraft were under the control of the ramp control tower at the time of the collision. The transfer of ground control responsibility from the ramp control tower to the Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Control Tower for an aircraft arriving or departing the G terminal is Spot 10. Spot 10 is where the G-ramp intersects taxiway A. Gate G-102 is the closest terminal gate to Spot 10 and is along the southern boundary of taxiway A. The ANA 777 had been cleared to taxi to Spot 10 by the ramp control tower was taxing outbound past gate G-102. The UAL 777 had been cleared by the ramp control tower to push back from gate G-102. Review of the recorded radio communications revealed that the ramp controller did not issue a cautionary advisory to either crew regarding the movements of the respective airplanes. The UAL 777 push back tractor driver saw the ANA 777 approach and stopped the push back just moments before the collision. The ANA flight crew saw the UAL 777 and maneuvered slightly to the left, away from the airplane, in an attempt to ensure wing tip clearance just prior to contact. None of the pilots on the ANA 777 could visually see their airplane's wingtips from the cockpit. The UAL 777's wing walker was on the left side of the airplane blocking traffic and noticed the ANA 777's approach and collision just moments after the UAL 777's push back was halted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the taxiing Boeing 777's flight crew to maintain clearance from a Boeing 777 that was being pushed back from the gate. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the local ramp controller to caution either aircrew of a possible movement conflict.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/7/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1157 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | San Francisco |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94066 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 373708N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1222229W |
| Event Location Airport | San Francisco International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSFO |
| 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 | 13 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFSO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 13 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| 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) | 29.85 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 450 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18801 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 7 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1220 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 21 2006 2:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SFO IFO-San Francisco |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N222UA | JA709A |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA007A | LAX04LA007B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier | Part 129: Foreign |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 777-22B | 777-281 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30553 | 28278 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 535000 | 650000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 253 | 163 |
| Number of Engines | 2 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 6 2003 12:00AM | Sep 24 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 964.6 | 218 |
| Airframe Hours | 8627 | 15969 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wells Fargo Bank Northwest | All Nippon (ANA) |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 299 S Main St, 12th Floor | 1-5-2, Higashi-Shinvashi-Minatoku |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salt Lake City | Tokyo |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | JA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84111 | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | UNITED AIRLINES INC | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 8550 W Bryn Mawr Ave | -- |
| Operator City | Chicago | -- |
| Operator State | IL | -- |
| Operator Country | USA | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 60666 | -- |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KSFO | KSFO |
| Departure City | San Francisco | San Francisco |
| Departure State | CA | CA |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 | 1157 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JKIX | JRAA |
| Destination City | Osaka | Tokyo |
| Destination State | -- | -- |
| Destination Country | JA | JA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi - pushback/tow | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 19 2005 11:48AM | Sep 19 2005 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA | NA |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |