Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Denver International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denver, Colorado 80249
Wednesday, August 3, 2005 8:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While taxiing east on Taxiway AA toward Gate A-48, an Airbus A320 collided with another Airbus A320 from the same company that had been pushed back from Gate A-40 and was holding on the ramp for the inbound traffic to clear. According to company policy, airplanes departing Concourse A were pushed back until the main landing gear wheels sat on the centerline of Taxiway AS, the northern taxiway. This policy assured airplanes taxiing on Taxiway AA (the southern taxiway) adequate wingtip clearance (about 30 feet), assuming their nose wheel stayed on the centerline. A witness said the holding airplane was pushed back too far from Taxiway AS and the taxiing airplane's nose wheel was on the centerline of Taxiway AA. As the inbound airplane taxied behind the holding airplane, its left winglet cut through the bottom section of holding airplane's tail cone. The flight crew on the inbound airplane recognized that the holding airplane was pushed back further than normal from the gate and elected to increase their wing tip clearance by moving to the right of the Taxiway AA centerline approximately 5 to 6 feet. As they approached the holding airplane, the captain reduced forward speed to a crawl, determined there was sufficient clearance between the two airplanes, and continued to taxi to their assigned gate. The flight crew onboard the holding airplane felt the airplane move slightly as the inbound airplane taxied behind them. Shortly after, both flight crews were notified of the collision.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The captain's failure to maintain sufficient clearance while taxiing to an assigned gate, which resulted in a collision with an airplane that had been pushed back (and holding) from another gate. Also causal was the tug operator's failure to follow published company procedures resulting in the holding airplane being pushed back too far, which reduced wingtip clearance of the taxiing airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 8/3/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 840 |
| 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 | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 395142N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1044023W |
| Event Location Airport | Denver International Airport |
| 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 | 5431 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| 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 | 324 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19732 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ANM ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 3 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2006 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, Colorado |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N496UA | N472UA |
| NTSB Number | DFW05IA200A | DFW05IA200B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes | No |
| Damage | Minor | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Airbus | Airbus Industrie |
| Aircraft Model | A320-232 | A320-232 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1845 | 1435 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 170000 | 170000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 162 | 156 |
| 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 1 2005 12:00AM | May 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 182 | 843 |
| Airframe Hours | 9616 | 14729 |
| ELT Installed | No | No |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | United Air Lines | United Air Lines |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chicago | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60666 | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | -- | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | -- | -- |
| Operator State | -- | -- |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- | -- |
| Operator Code | UALA | UALA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | Yes | No |
| 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 | Domestic | Domestic |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PHX | DEN |
| Departure City | Phoenix | Denver |
| Departure State | AZ | CO |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 555 | 842 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DEN | LAS |
| Destination City | Denver | Las Vegas |
| Destination State | CO | NV |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi - pushback/tow | Taxi - from landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 13 2012 10:15AM | Feb 13 2012 10:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |