Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pittsburgh International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15231
Thursday, July 27, 2006 9:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During pushback, the airplane was seen to "bounce" up and down both at the nose and the tail, before the nose gear collapsed. Examination of the airplane revealed a broken lower drag brace that was buckled in compression, and fractured due to overstress. The tug was examined and the gear shift lever was found to be defective. It would not lock in the neutral gate, and could be moved easily through the gate between the forward and reverse gears. In addition, the tug experienced "hesitation and hard jerks" when shifting from forward to reverse. Skid marks at the scene were the same width as the tug's wheelbase, and were consistent with sudden engagement of the transmission.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The airplane tug driver's inadvertent movement of the tug gear shift lever from forward to reverse, which resulted in the nose landing gear collapse. Contributing to the accident was the defective gear shift lever.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/27/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Pittsburgh |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 15231 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 402917N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801335W |
| Event Location Airport | Pittsburgh International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PIT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1203 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 951 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPIT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1203 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | 75 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23767 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 27 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Pittsburgh, PA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N529AU |
| NTSB Number | NYC06FA184 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 737-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24411 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 79000 |
| 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 | 128 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| 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 | Wells Fargo Bank Northweat NA Trustee |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salt Lake City |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | US AIRWAYS INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2345 Crystal Dr |
| Operator City | Arlington |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 22202 |
| Operator Code | USA4 |
| 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 | PIT |
| Departure City | PITTSBURGH |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PBI |
| Destination City | WEST PALM BEACH |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi - pushback/tow |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 5 2008 4:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| 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 | -- |