Salt Lake City Int. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
Friday, November 7, 2008 16:15 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During a push back from a jetway, the airplane's winglet collided with the winglet of an unoccupied airplane parked at the adjacent gate. Prior to the push back, the wheels of the tug were not aligned straight ahead, but were instead turned partially to one side. Therefore as the push back was initiated, the nose of the airplane moved toward the jetway instead of going straight back. At that point, instead of terminating the push back and realigning the tug, the tug driver attempted to maneuver the tug in a manner that would result in the nose of the airplane clearing the jetway. During this attempt, the tug driver's attention became focused upon the jetway, and he therefore did not see or hear the visual and oral warning signals being given by the wing-walker.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The tug driver's failure to maintain situational awareness during the push back operation.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 11/7/2008
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1615
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Salt Lake City
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84101
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 404718n
Event Location Longitude 1115840W
Event Location Airport Salt Lake City Int.
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KSLC
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 4227
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 4100
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) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.39
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 51
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 25256
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 23 2009 5:23PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N254WN
NTSB Number WPR09IA033
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BOEING
Aircraft Model 737-700
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 32512
Certified Max Gross Weight 154500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 4
Cabin Crew Seats 4
Passenger Seats 129
Total number of seats on the aircraft 137
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Aug 14 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 8595
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO BOX 36611
Aircraft Owner City DALLAS
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75235-1611
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address PO BOX 36611
Operator City DALLAS
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 75235-1611
Operator Code SWAA
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 KSLC
Departure City Salt Lake City
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KLAX
Destination City Los Angeles
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 23 2009 5:23PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --