Minneapolis-St Paul Intl/Wold- Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55450
Tuesady, May 10, 2005 19:36 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The DC-9 was taxiing to the gate area when it collided with a company A-319 that was being pushed back from the gate. Prior to arriving at the destination airport, the DC-9 experienced a loss of hydraulic fluid from a fractured rudder shutoff valve located in the DC-9's right side hydraulic system. The left side hydraulic system had normal hydraulic pressure and quantity throughout the flight. The flightcrew elected to continue to the scheduled destination and declared an emergency while on approach to the destination airport. After landing, the emergency was negated by the flight crew and the airplane taxied to the gate. Flight data recorder information indicates the left engine, which provides power for the left hydraulic system, was shut down during taxi. The captain stated he did not remember shutting the left engine down, and that if he had, it would have been after clearing all runways. The first officer stated that he was unaware that the left engine was shut down. Upon arrival at the gate with the left engine shut down and no hydraulic pressure from the left system and a failure of the right hydraulic system, the airplane experienced a loss of steering and a loss of brakes. The flightcrew requested company maintenance to chock the airplane since they were unable to use brakes to stop the airplane. The crew said they were going to keep the "...engines running in case we have to use reversers..." The airplane began to roll forward and the captain applied reverse thrust but the reversers did not deploy. The airplane impacted the A-319 with a speed of approximately 15.65 miles per hour to 16.34 miles per hour. Evacuation of the DC-9 was completed approximately 5:22 minutes after the collision and evacuation of the A-319 occurred approximately 13:08 minutes after the collision. Examination of the left hydraulic system revealed no anomalies and examination of the right hydraulic system revealed a fractured rudder shutoff valve that displayed features consistent with fatigue. Following the accident, the airplane manufacturer issued a service letter pertaining to the replacement of the rudder shutoff valve based upon reliability information that was reported to them. The number of reports was greater than that of the Federal Aviation Administration's Service Difficulty Reports database, and less than the operators records.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the Captain's decision to shutdown the left engine during taxi with no hydraulic pressure on the right side hydraulic system to effectively operate the brakes, steering, or thrust reversers. A factor was the fatigue fracture of the rudder shutoff valve which resulted in the loss of right side hydraulic pressure.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/10/2005
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1936
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Minneapolis
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 55450
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 445250N
Event Location Longitude 0931301W
Event Location Airport MINNEAPOLIS-ST PAUL INTL/WOLD-
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MSP
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 841
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1853 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID MSP
Elevation of weather observation facility 841
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3900
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries 3
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 7
Injury Total None 137
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 8
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21337
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 10 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 25 2007 2:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA-AAI-100

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number N763NC N368NB
NTSB Number CHI05MA111A CHI05MA111B
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 Yes
Damage Substantial Substantial
Aircraft Fire None --
Aircraft Explosion None --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name McDonnell Douglas Airbus Industrie
Aircraft Model DC-9-51 A-319-114
Aircraft Series Identifier -- --
Aircraft Serial Number 47716 --
Certified Max Gross Weight 123200 --
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 131 --
Number of Engines 2 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness --
Date of Last Inspection Aug 1 2004 12:00AM --
Airframe hours since last inspection -- --
Airframe Hours 67268 --
ELT Installed No --
ELT Activated No --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No --
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name Northwest Airlines Inc. --
Aircraft Owner Street Address 7500 Airline Drive --
Aircraft Owner City Minneapolis --
Aircraft Owner State MN --
Aircraft Owner Country USA --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55450 --
Operator is an individual? No --
Operator Name -- Northwest Airlines Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes --
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes --
Operator Street Address -- 7500 Aviation Drive
Operator City -- Minneapolis
Operator State -- MN
Operator Country -- USA
Operator Zip code -- 55450
Operator Code NWAA NWAA
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 Domestic Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) -- --
Second Pilot on Board Yes --
Departure Point Same as Event No Yes
Departure Airport Code CMH MSP
Departure City Columbus Minneapolis
Departure State OH MN
Departure Country USA USA
Departure Time 1826 1930
Departure Time Zone EDT CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city --
Destination Airport Code MSP SAT
Destination City Minneapolis San Antonio
Destination State MN TX
Destination Country USA USA
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi Standing
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 7 2007 5:48PM Apr 17 2007 10:12AM
User who most recently changed record DINC NTSB\HAMG
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 22 --
Runway Length 10006 --
Runway Width 150 --
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --