Newark Liberty International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Newark, New Jersey 07114
Monday, July 24, 2006 13:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During pushback, the airplane skidded approximately 14 inches, and sustained damage to the forward pressure bulkhead, forward longerons, and nose landing gear. Both flightcrew reported that the parking brake was released prior to pushback; however, review of the cockpit voice recorder did not reveal any reference to the parking brake being released. In addition, the captain and guideperson used non-standard phraseology when discussing the pushback. A larger and more powerful tug was used for pushback, rather than the preferred tugs for regional jet aircraft. The make and model tug used for the pushback was approved, with caution, at stations where a preferred tug was not available, such as the accident station on the day of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The captain's failure to follow company procedures, which resulted in pushback with the parking brake set. A factor was the larger than preferred tug.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/24/2006
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Newark
Event State NEW JERSEY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 07114
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 404133N
Event Location Longitude 0741007W
Event Location Airport Newark Liberty International
Event Location Nearest Airport ID EWR
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 18
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1251 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID EWR
Elevation of weather observation facility 18
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.01
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 16
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22159
NTSB Notification Source FAA Teterboro FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Jul 25 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 30 2007 12:18PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Teterboro, NJ

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N703MR
NTSB Number NYC06LA191
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 Embraer
Aircraft Model EMB-135LR
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 145173
Certified Max Gross Weight 44312
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 41
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 309
Airframe Hours 14720
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name American Eagle Airlines Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Forth Worth
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76155
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 AEAA
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 EWR
Departure City Newark
Departure State NJ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BOS
Destination City Boston
Destination State MA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi - pushback/tow
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 16 2007 9:00AM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
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 --