Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Los Angeles International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Los Angeles, California 90009
Tuesady, February 16, 2010 6:35 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
At the completion of a scheduled passenger flight, the airplane was taxied to the arrival gate at which point the flight crew was marshaled into the gate by a ground marshaller. The captain reported that as he taxied into the gate area at a normal speed, he observed the lead-in line, a parked fuel truck on the right side, the jet bridge on the left side, and the marshaller. He felt confident the airplane could proceed to the gate and clear all of the obstacles. As he continued to taxi, he anticipated the marshaller shortly giving the stop signal and chose to maintain visual attention on the marshaller. Just as the marshaller raised his hands to perform the stop signal, the left propeller struck the jet bridge.
The first officer reported that he was looking out the right side of the airplane to make sure everything was clear of the wing and propeller. He reported that he never saw the jet bridge on the left side. He turned his attention back to the marshaller and saw his arms moving up indicating they were close to stopping. Before the marshaller crossed his day wands to indicate the stop location, the first officer felt something hit the airplane.
The marshaller reported that he was concentrating on the airplane’s right side where a fuel truck was parked close to the envelope line and was concerned about the truck’s proximity to the airplane. Because of where his attention was focused, he misjudged the stop line marked for EMB airplanes and instead signaled the airplane to stop on the line marked for CRJ airplanes. Just as he crossed his wands, the left engine propeller struck the jet bridge.
Postaccident examination of the airplane and surrounding parking area revealed that the airplane’s nosewheel tire came to rest about 18 feet beyond the stop line marked “EMB,” at a line marked “RJ50.”
A reenactment of the incident, accomplished by towing an airplane on the taxi line toward the RJ50 stop line, determined that the flight crew had a clear view of the surroundings associated with the gate, including the jet bridge, when both occupants turned to look out the left cockpit window. In addition, it was also determined that the captain would be able to see part of the left engine and propeller as the airplane approached the jet bridge just prior to the RJ50 stop line.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight crew’s failure to maintain clearance from the jet bridge during taxi. Contributing to the incident was the ramp marshaller's diverted attention and failure to signal the flight crew to stop at the correct position.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 2/16/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 635 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Los Angeles |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90009 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335632N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182351W |
| Event Location Airport | Los Angeles International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LAX |
| 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 | 125 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 653 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 125 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KLAX 161453Z 07003KT 10SM FEW010 SCT220 14/0 |
| 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 | 31 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30935 |
| NTSB Notification Source | WP Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2013 2:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coln |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N226SW |
| NTSB Number | WPR10IA135 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EMBRAER |
| Aircraft Model | EMB-120ER |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 120.296 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 32 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 13 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 33284 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WELLS FARGO BANK NORTHWEST NA TRUSTEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SKYWEST AIRLINES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | St. George |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84790 |
| Operator Code | SWIA |
| 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 | SWIA011A |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CRQ |
| Departure City | Carlsbad |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 554 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LAX |
| 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 | Jan 23 2013 6:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25R |
| Runway Length | 12091 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |