Denver Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Denver, Colorado 80249
Monday, May 30, 2005 8:47 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During initial pushback, the trainee operating the ground support vehicle, turned the aircraft in the wrong direction, at which time, the supervisor took over control of the vehicle. During the supervisor's attempt to turn the aircraft around, the nose wheels rolled out of the vehicle's wheel cradle and up onto the ground support vehicle. An employee reported she overheard one of the flight crewmembers report to dispatch that the ground personnel was making a sharp turn and the crewmember thought the airplane was going to be pushed back into another airplane. The company which provided the ground support personnel stated the push back operation should have come to a stop and communication should have been conducted between the flight crew and ground crew to resolve all concerns about safe maneuvers.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The improper procedures conducted by the ground personnel and the flight crew's failure to coordinate procedures with the ground personnel during push back operation which resulted in the collision between the ground support vehicle and the airplane. A contributing factor was the inadequate communication between the flight crew and ground crew during the push back operation.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 5/30/2005
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 847
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 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
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 855 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 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 17
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
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 40
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18445
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date May 30 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 27 2005 6:51AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, Colorado

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N454YV
NTSB Number DEN05IA084
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 de Havilland
Aircraft Model DHC-8-202
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 454
Certified Max Gross Weight 36500
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 40
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 Mesa Airlines Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 410 North 44th St. Suite 700
Aircraft Owner City Phoenix
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85027
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 MASA
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 DEN
Departure City Denver
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 847
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code GUC
Destination City Gunnison
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi - pushback/tow
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2005 1:14PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
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 --