Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Seattle-Tacoma Intern Arpt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Seattle, Washington 98188
Monday, December 26, 2005 16:35 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The captain said that the airplane arrived late into Seattle, from its previous flight, and the new flight crew was waiting at the gate. After the airplane was chocked and the engines were shut down, the first officer immediately performed his preflight inspection. A ground baggage handler, who was driving a tug towing a train of baggage carts, said that he approached the airplane from aft to forward, but had to maneuver around another train of carts to get close to the belt loader. After loading the carts with baggage, he attempted to drive away. He stated, "I was hoping to make it out, but I felt my tug going against something. I immediately set my foot on the brakes and glanced at the body [in moderate rain] of the aircraft to see if there was any damage. It was a quick glance and I did not see any damage." He did not report the incident to anyone. The pilot said that the takeoff was normal. During the climb out, at approximately 26,000 feet, they heard a loud bang, and the cabin depressurized. He said that they put their oxygen masks on, and coordinated a descent to a lower altitude with Seattle Center. An uneventful landing was performed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington. Post landing examination of the fuselage revealed a 12 by 6 inch hole between the middle and forward cargo doors on the right side of the airplane. After the occurrence, the ground baggage handler confessed that he had "grazed the airplane" with a tug, while attempting to depart the vicinity of the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The ground personnel baggage handler failed to maintain clearance from the aircraft with cargo handling equipment during ground operations and inadvertently damaged the airplane's pressure bulkhead which subsequently decompressed during climb to cruise.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/26/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1635 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Seattle |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98188 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 472656N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221834W |
| Event Location Airport | Seattle-Tacoma Intern Arpt |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SEA |
| 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 | 433 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1656 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SEA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 433 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.88 |
| 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 | 142 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20028 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NW FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 26 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2006 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle, WA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N979AS |
| NTSB Number | SEA06LA033 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | MD-83 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 53471 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 161000 |
| 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 | 145 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 33530 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Alaska Airlines Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19300 Pacific HWY S. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Seattle |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98188 |
| 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 | ASAA |
| 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 | SEA |
| Departure City | Seattle |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1605 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BUR |
| Destination City | Burbank |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 17 2006 2:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |