Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Syracuse Hancock International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Syracuse, New York 13211
Friday, May 18, 2007 13:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While at its departure airport, a Douglas DC-9-31’s baggage was loaded by contract ramp personnel. After departure, the airplane was climbing through approximately 20,000 feet mean sea level (msl), when the flight crew heard a "loud pop" and the cabin depressurized. The flight crew donned their oxygen masks and diverted to the closest airport in point of time, and landed uneventfully. Postflight inspection of the accident airplane revealed a 12-inch by 5-inch fuselage skin tear, approximately 6 feet forward of the forward cargo door. During the course of the investigation it was revealed that at some point during the aircraft luggage off-loading or loading process, the engine of the belt loader quit operating. The senior of three ground agents working the flight decided to move the belt loader away from the airplane by pushing the belt loader with a luggage tug; however, during the attempt to move the belt loader, the tug’s cab contacted the fuselage. The senior ground agent then advised “don’t say anything” to one of the other employees who was working the flight with him, and the airplane departed and later depressurized. The senior ground agent’s actions were contrary to published guidance in the company’s training handbook and operation manual.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The senior ground agent's failure to follow written procedures and directives.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/18/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Syracuse |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13211 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 430640N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0760623W |
| Event Location Airport | Syracuse Hancock International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SYR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 421 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SYR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 421 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4200 |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| 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 | 99 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24575 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Operator |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 18 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2008 7:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Harrisburg, PA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1799U |
| NTSB Number | NYC07LA121 |
| 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 | DOUGLAS |
| Aircraft Model | DC-9-31 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 47370 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 99700 |
| 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 | 107 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 83094 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NORTHWEST AIRLINES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | St. Paul |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55111 |
| 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 | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | NWAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | SYR |
| Departure City | Syracus |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1237 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DTW |
| Destination City | Detroit |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2008 7:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |