Denver Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Denver, Colorado 80249
Monday, April 25, 2005 11:05 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THIS CASE WAS MODIFIED DECEMBER 2, 2008. The airplane was being marshalled to the gate by another operator's ground personnel. The ground personnel marshalled the airplane onto the "727" stop bar line, which was located approximately 25 feet forward of the "737" stop bar line. After the airplane was parked, the loading bridge operator maneuvered the loading bridge toward the airplane, and the loading bridge impacted the airplane's left engine pylon fairing. At the time of the incident, the loading bridge wheels were positioned within the painted hash-mark box. The ground operations investigation report stated, "A complete lack of communication among interested parties accompanied by the assigning unqualified agents and a lack of direct supervision was the major cause of this accident. The Supervisor on Duty also directed the marshaller to bring the [aircraft] up to the 727 stop block which is approximately 25-30 feet forward of the 737 stop block. This was only communicated to the marshaller and not to anyone else. The supervisor was not in attendance during the arrival of the [aircraft]." The marshalling of the flight was an irregular operation for the ground personnel which normally handles regional jets.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the improper operation of the loading bridge which resulted in the loading bridge impacting the airplane. Contributing factors were the failure of the ground personnel to marshal the airplane on the assigned aircraft stop line, lack of supervision and communications during the marshal operations, the lack of qualified personnel conducting the marshal operations, and the inadequate training of ground personnel.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 4/25/2005
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1105
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Denver
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80249
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 395141N
Event Location Longitude 1044023W
Event Location Airport DENVER INTL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DEN
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 5280
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1253 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID DEN
Elevation of weather observation facility 5280
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4900
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
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) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 26
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 30
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.84
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 98
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18782
NTSB Notification Source DIA Operations
NTSB Notification Date Apr 25 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1135
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 5 2008 1:19PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, Colorado

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N789TM
NTSB Number DEN05IA071
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Boeing
Aircraft Model 737-282
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 23046
Certified Max Gross Weight 124500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 130
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 Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TEM ENTERPRISES INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 976 Mountain City Highway
Aircraft Owner City Elko
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89801
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 USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code BJNA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 ENV
Departure City Wendover
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 923
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code DEN
Destination City Denver
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi - from landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2008 3:10PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --