Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Newark Liberty Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Newark, New Jersey 07101
Tuesady, October 31, 2006 18:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a night taxi, the leading edge left wingtip of a Boeing 747 (B747) impacted the trailing edge right wingtip of a Boeing 757 (B757) in tow, but stopped, near the intersection of diverging taxiways. The B747 crew was not aware of the B757 in tow. The captain indicated that the accident occurred in an area where the B757 in tow was backlit by apron lights, and that the crew's attention was diverted to another B757 ahead that they had been instructed to follow. The B757 in tow, which had been taxiing ahead of the B747 prior to reaching the diverging taxiways, had received its taxi instructions prior to the B747 crew being on the frequency. Some taxiways were mislabeled on a Federal Aviation Administration airport diagram; however, the mislabeling did not affect the outcome of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the Boeing 747 crew to maintain an adequate visual lookout. Contributing to the accident were the night lighting conditions, the back lighting from the apron lights, and the crew's diverted attention in focusing on a Boeing 757 that they were instructed to follow.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/31/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Newark |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 07101 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404133N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0741007W |
| Event Location Airport | Newark Liberty Intl |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KEWR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 18 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1851 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KEWR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 18 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| 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) | 29.89 |
| 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 | 312 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24278 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 1 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 26 2008 6:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Teterboro |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | D-ABVY |
| NTSB Number | NYC07LA017 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 129: Foreign |
| 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 | 747-400 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 29869 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 849999 |
| 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 | 377 |
| Number of Engines | 4 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 32204 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lufthansa German Airlines |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Von-Gablenz Str 2-6 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cologne |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | GE |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 50679 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | International |
| 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 | KEWR |
| Departure City | Newark |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EDDF |
| Destination City | Frankfurt |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | GE |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 6 2008 12:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |