Charlotte-Douglas Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Charlotte, North Carolina 28208
Saturday, June 28, 2008 18:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A CRJ 200 had completed the pushback process and was waiting for taxi clearance. A CRJ 700 was being pushed back from another gate, with a wing walker stationed at the left wing. The wing walker was aware of the CRJ 200, and when the pushback commenced, he believed that the tugdriver was only going to pushback the airplane about 10 feet. As the tugdriver continued to push the airplane past 10 feet, the wing walker signaled the tugdriver to stop. Witnesses observed the wing walker signaling the tugdriver to stop as the tugdriver continued to push the airplane. The tail section of the CRJ 700 struck the tail section of the CRJ 200, which resulted in substantial damage to the empennages of both airplanes. Due to lightning in the vicinity of airport, ground crewmembers were not using headsets.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The tugdriver and wing walker's lack of communication and the tugdriver's failure to properly monitor the wing walker. Contributing to the accident was the lightning in the vicinity of the airport, which resulted in the ground crewmembers not wearing headsets.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/28/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1815
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Charlotte
Event State NORTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 28208
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 351250N
Event Location Longitude 0805635W
Event Location Airport Charlotte-Douglas
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CLT
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 748
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1852 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID CLT
Elevation of weather observation facility 748
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1000
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) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 20
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 168
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.99
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 112
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 25152
NTSB Notification Source FAA Southern ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jul 2 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record May 4 2009 11:13AM
User who most recently changed record grol
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Charlotte, NC

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number N725PS N228PS
NTSB Number NYC08LA234A NYC08LA234B
Missing Aircraft Indicator -- --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes Yes
Damage Substantial Substantial
Aircraft Fire None None
Aircraft Explosion None None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bombardier, Inc. Bombardier, Inc.
Aircraft Model CL-600-2C10 CL-600-2B19
Aircraft Series Identifier -- --
Aircraft Serial Number 10186 7897
Certified Max Gross Weight 44998 53250
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class -- --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No No
Flight Crew Seats 3 3
Cabin Crew Seats 2 1
Passenger Seats 70 50
Total number of seats on the aircraft 75 54
Number of Engines 2 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jun 26 2008 12:00AM Jun 26 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection -- --
Airframe Hours 9011 10544
ELT Installed Yes Yes
ELT Activated No No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No No
ELT Type Unknown Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Wells Fargo Bank Northwest NA Trustee Wells Fargo Bank Northwest NA Trustee
Aircraft Owner Street Address -- --
Aircraft Owner City Salt Lake City Salt Lake City
Aircraft Owner State UT UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84111 84111
Operator is an individual? No No
Operator Name PSA Airlines Inc. PSA AIRLINES INC
Operator Same as Owner? No No
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No No
Operator Street Address -- --
Operator City Vandalia Vandalia
Operator State OH OH
Operator Country USA USA
Operator Zip code 45377 45377
Operator Code VNAA VNAA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation -- --
Operator Certificate Number -- --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Scheduled Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) -- --
Second Pilot on Board Yes Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No No
Departure Airport Code CLT CLT
Departure City Charlotte Charlotte
Departure State NC NC
Departure Country USA USA
Departure Time -- --
Departure Time Zone EDT EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt -- --
Destination Airport Code IAD FAY
Destination City Dulles Fayetteville
Destination State VA NC
Destination Country USA USA
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi - pushback/tow Standing
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2009 3:53PM Mar 4 2009 3:53PM
User who most recently changed record grer grer
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A N/A
Runway Length -- --
Runway Width -- --
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --