Narrative:

I was working in echo wash [facility] pad for the deicing event. I was paired together with maintenance technician X; [who was working as deicing co-coordinator]. We had a briefing where we were informed that we would be working together and in echo wash facility. We were instructed to have the wash facility up and running in two and a half hours. We were given no further instructions specifically about the echo wash facility. Upon arrival to echo wash; deice manager was already setting up the wash pad and staging the deice trucks. Once everything was set up; we waited for our first aircraft to come through to be deiced. While we were waiting two aircraft passed through the wash without wanting deice. When the planes passed through; the deice trucks were in the same location that they were when the later accident occurred. Our first aircraft notified us that they wanted to be deiced that aircraft was a B757. I marshaled that aircraft straight ahead to a stopping point were he would be deiced; the deice operation was performed and the aircraft was cleared to taxi. Our second aircraft notified us that they wanted to be deiced; it was an md-11; [and] so with the trucks staged in the same location I started to marshal the md-11 straight ahead. As the aircraft approached the appropriate location to be deiced; the right wing hit the deice truck that was staged waiting to deice; so I gave the pilot an X [signal] to stop. We checked with the deice manager; to ensure the trucks were staged in the proper location and he said they were. Earlier in the night; technician X and I had driven over there to inspect that the trucks were behind the yellow line and they were. After the accident we were instructed that the plane was on the wrong line and that it needed to be marshaled off the centerline to a secondary line. Prior to the accident I was never informed that the aircraft needed to be marshaled off of the centerline; technician X also said that he had never been informed. I had also never worked in the echo wash facility prior to this night as a coordinator. We did have a diagram that showed us the layout of the echo wash [pad]; but nowhere on it did it say anything about marshalling the aircraft off the centerline. After the accident I was also informed by the deice manager that they sometimes used that setup for the wash with the deice trucks staged in that location. I think that the accident happened due to a lack of training and a failure of information being presented about specific instructions pertaining to individual washes. If we would [have] had more detailed training and/or the instructions would have been given to us about the aircraft needing to be marshaled off the centerline; this accident would [have] been avoided. In regards to this accident I have been instructed that the aircraft has to be marshaled 'off' the centerline. If that same information is displayed to all current and future coordinators this type of accident should be avoided.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Line Mechanic and Maintenance Support Agent describe how a lack of training; lack of accurate deice pad mapping layouts; and the lack of an alternate guide-in line contributed to a MD-11 aircraft's right wing leading edge striking a deicing truck.

Narrative: I was working in echo wash [facility] pad for the deicing event. I was paired together with Maintenance Technician X; [who was working as deicing co-coordinator]. We had a briefing where we were informed that we would be working together and in echo wash facility. We were instructed to have the wash facility up and running in two and a half hours. We were given no further instructions specifically about the echo wash facility. Upon arrival to echo wash; Deice Manager was already setting up the wash pad and staging the deice trucks. Once everything was set up; we waited for our first aircraft to come through to be deiced. While we were waiting two aircraft passed through the wash without wanting deice. When the planes passed through; the deice trucks were in the same location that they were when the later accident occurred. Our first aircraft notified us that they wanted to be deiced that aircraft was a B757. I marshaled that aircraft straight ahead to a stopping point were he would be deiced; the deice operation was performed and the aircraft was cleared to taxi. Our second aircraft notified us that they wanted to be deiced; it was an MD-11; [and] so with the trucks staged in the same location I started to marshal the MD-11 straight ahead. As the aircraft approached the appropriate location to be deiced; the right wing hit the deice truck that was staged waiting to deice; so I gave the pilot an X [signal] to stop. We checked with the Deice Manager; to ensure the trucks were staged in the proper location and he said they were. Earlier in the night; Technician X and I had driven over there to inspect that the trucks were behind the yellow line and they were. After the accident we were instructed that the plane was on the wrong line and that it needed to be marshaled off the centerline to a secondary line. Prior to the accident I was never informed that the aircraft needed to be marshaled off of the centerline; Technician X also said that he had never been informed. I had also never worked in the echo wash facility prior to this night as a coordinator. We did have a diagram that showed us the layout of the echo wash [pad]; but nowhere on it did it say anything about marshalling the aircraft off the centerline. After the accident I was also informed by the deice Manager that they sometimes used that setup for the wash with the deice trucks staged in that location. I think that the accident happened due to a lack of training and a failure of information being presented about specific instructions pertaining to individual washes. If we would [have] had more detailed training and/or the instructions would have been given to us about the aircraft needing to be marshaled off the centerline; this accident would [have] been avoided. In regards to this accident I have been instructed that the aircraft has to be marshaled 'off' the centerline. If that same information is displayed to all current and future coordinators this type of accident should be avoided.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.