Southwest B733 at Los Angeles on Apr 9th 2010, struck by a tug
Last Update: March 21, 2013 / 12:24:05 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Apr 9, 2010
Classification
Accident
Airline
Southwest Airlines
Flight number
WN-579
Departure
Los Angeles, United States
Destination
Tucson, United States
Aircraft Registration
N624SW
Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-300
ICAO Type Designator
B733
The FAA reported substantial damage to the aircraft rating the occurrence an accident.
A replacement Boeing 737-300 reached Tucson with a delay of 2 hours.
On Mar 21st 2013 the NTSB released their factual report stating that the tug driver, who had been with the company for 7.5 years and was working the first day after an extended leave of 2 month, had exited the tug without turning off the electric motor of the vehicle, with the gear selector in forward and without setting the park brake. He had to pick up two bags, took one and put it onto the passenger's seat, then turned to pick up the second bag. While handling the second bag he observed the tug started moving and ran after it to stop its movement, but had to leave the tug before the impact with the aircraft. The first bag placed onto the passengers by that time was no longer on the seat but had fallen onto the floor and most likely came to rest on the accelerator pedal. The company subsequently released a safety advisory reporting the bag had fallen onto the accelerator pedal.
The aircraft received punctures and dents to its left hand engine's cowl, the vehicle subsequently hit the left belly of the aircraft leaving punctures and dents continued on and stopped upon impacting the right hand engine, which received damage to the engine, components, pylon and cowl.
The NTSB reported the seat switch of the tug was inoperative. This switch is designed to open the electrical circuit thus shutting down the motor with no weight on the seat. Testing also revealed that the tug would not have moved even with the accelerator pedal fully pressed down if the park brake had been set or the control lever in the neutral position. At the time of the accident the operator had standard operating procedures in effect requiring tugs to be parked only with the electrical circuit shut down, control lever in neutral and park brake set, no items were to be transported on or near the passenger seat.
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Apr 9, 2010
Classification
Accident
Airline
Southwest Airlines
Flight number
WN-579
Departure
Los Angeles, United States
Destination
Tucson, United States
Aircraft Registration
N624SW
Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-300
ICAO Type Designator
B733
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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