General Mitchell International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53207
Saturday, November 13, 2004 22:00 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A ramp services employee sustained serious injuries when he was struck by a rotating propeller blade while conducting arrival activities after the air carrier flight had parked at the gate. The airplane was not damaged. The captain of the flight reported that he had shut down the left (No. 1) engine prior to arrival at the gate. He parked the airplane normally and when he was notified that the wheels chocks had been installed he feathered the right (No. 2) engine propeller. After the cabin door was opened, the captain noted that he heard "three or four quick thumps" and received a signal from ramp personnel to shut down the right (No. 2) engine. When he exited the aircraft he saw the ramp service employee lying beneath the aircraft. An employee on the ramp stated that the ramp employee involved walked outside of the left wing with two chocks toward the nose of the aircraft. She reported that he walked to the nose landing gear, slowed down, and then continued walking around to the other side of the aircraft. She noted that she was unable to determine his distance from the right (No. 2) engine propeller. She stated that she heard the "sound of something hit the [propeller]" and she saw the individual "flip and land on the ground." The ramp services employee involved was hired approximately one month prior to the accident. He had received one week of general training, followed by specific training and mentoring at his assigned work location. In a statement prepared after the accident, the mentor assigned to the individual involved reported that he was specifically trained to chock the main landing gear by approaching from the rear. The mentor also stated that he never observed the individual install main landing gear chocks by approaching from the front of the aircraft. The mentoring program was to be continued until the individual was proficient in all required tasks. According to the airline station manager, a mentor was to supervise the individual in training during ramp operations.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the ramp employee to maintain clearance to the rotating propeller resulting in inadvertent contact with a propeller blade.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/13/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 2200
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Milwaukee
Event State WISCONSIN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 53207
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 425650N
Event Location Longitude 0875348W
Event Location Airport General Mitchell International
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MKE
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 723
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2152 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID MKE
Elevation of weather observation facility 723
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 0
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.7
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 28
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18219
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Nov 13 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2313
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 13 2005 12:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA-Milwaukee FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N305CE
NTSB Number CHI05LA028
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Saab-Scania AB (Saab)
Aircraft Model 340B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 202
Certified Max Gross Weight 28500
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 40
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Oct 11 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 133
Airframe Hours 30238
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name US Bank Equipment Finance
Aircraft Owner Street Address 777 E. Wisconsin Avenue
Aircraft Owner City Milwaukee
Aircraft Owner State WI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 53202
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Chicago Express Airlines Inc
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 5333 South Laramie Avenue
Operator City Chicago
Operator State IL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 60638
Operator Code CX7A
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 No
Departure Airport Code MDW
Departure City Chicago
Departure State IL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2132
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code MKE
Destination City Milwaukee
Destination State WI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Standing - engine(s) operating
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 10 2005 8:08PM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --