Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Philadelphia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19153
Saturday, December 18, 2010 11:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On December 18, 2010, at 1100 eastern standard time, a Boeing 737-700, registration number N913WN, operated by Southwest Airlines as flight 2592 to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, collided with a Boeing 737-300, registration number N650SW, operated by Southwest Airlines as flight 3944 to Tampa, Florida, during pushback from the gate at Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA. The left wing and horizontal stabilizer of N913WN contacted the right winglet and horizontal stabilizer of N650SW. N650SW had been previously pushed back and awaiting taxi clearance at the time of the incident. The tug operator reported he looked away at an uninvolved airplane and when he looked back, the wing walker was signalling him to stop, but he was unable to stop prior to impact. N913WN was substantially damaged due to the impact to the wing spar. N650SW had minor damage. There were no injuries to the 10 total crew members, 215 total passengers, and 2 ground operations personnel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the ground operations personnel to maintain awareness of the relative position of the two airplanes.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/18/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Philadelphia |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19153 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 395220N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0751427W |
| Event Location Airport | Philadelphia |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KPHL |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPHL |
| 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 | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.18 |
| 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 | 222 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | SWA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 23 2011 5:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | schd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N913WN | N650SW |
| NTSB Number | DCA11CA014A | DCA11CA014B |
| 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 | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BOEING | BOEING |
| Aircraft Model | 737-7H4 | 737-3H4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 29840 | 27720 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 155000 | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 4 | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 137 | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 140 | 149 |
| 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 | Dec 18 2010 12:00AM | Dec 18 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 9987 | 44479 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 36611 | PO BOX 36611 |
| Aircraft Owner City | DALLAS | DALLAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75235-1611 | 75235-1611 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 36611 | PO BOX 36611 |
| Operator City | DALLAS | DALLAS |
| Operator State | TX | TX |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 75235-1611 | 75235-1611 |
| Operator Code | SWAA | SWAA |
| 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 | SWAA304A | -- |
| 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 | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KPHL | KPHL |
| Departure City | Philadelphia | Philadelphia |
| Departure State | PA | PA |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | -- | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KFLL | KTPA |
| Destination City | Fort Lauderdale | Tampa |
| Destination State | FL | FL |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 8 2011 11:34AM | Feb 8 2011 11:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | engb | engb |
| 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 | -- | -- |