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An air carrier aircraft was pushed back into a catering passenger type vehicle because both the flight and ground crews were rushed after a late catering and the solo wing walker did not see the vehicle.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1114811 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201309 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | DTW.Airport |
| State Reference | MI |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Medium Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying First Officer |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Vehicle |
Narrative:
During pushback ship was pushed into a parked vehicle sustaining damage to the right under wing area proximate to the flap fairings. Pushback was halted; passengers deplaned under supervision of airport and station personnel. At scheduled departure time; flight was completely ready to depart in all respects except that catering was pending. Catering crew arrived at plane approximately at scheduled departure time. While the flight attendants and catering worked in the galley area; I was in communications with the pushback tug operator. Communications were normal. When the cabin servicing door was closed I released the brakes upon communication with and concurrence of the tug operator. Within approximately 1-2 minutes the tug operator 'pulled-up' [the aircraft] and he was standing by for the catering truck to clear the area. At this time I requested and received a push back clearance from dtw ground control. Upon receiving the clearance; I informed the tug operator that we had clearance to push. I stated you are cleared to push when ready; or words to that effect. The tug operator acknowledged and informed that the catering truck was still not clear. Moments later the tug driver informed me that the catering truck was clear; and he was signaling his wing walker on the left side of the plane. With the wing walker in place; the tug driver commenced pushback. Moments later I heard shouting; and the tug driver stopped the pushback abruptly. A small catering passenger vehicle was wedged underneath the right under wing area.lack of a second wing walker. I was informed that at dtw station policy allows for aircraft movement with only 1 wing walker. This is not a good policy. Improperly parked vehicle; does policy allow unnecessary service vehicles to park in close proximity to aircraft?
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An air carrier aircraft was pushed back into a catering passenger type vehicle because both the flight and ground crews were rushed after a late catering and the solo wing walker did not see the vehicle.
Narrative: During pushback ship was pushed into a parked vehicle sustaining damage to the right under wing area proximate to the flap fairings. Pushback was halted; passengers deplaned under supervision of airport and station personnel. At scheduled departure time; flight was completely ready to depart in all respects except that catering was pending. Catering crew arrived at plane approximately at scheduled departure time. While the flight attendants and catering worked in the galley area; I was in communications with the pushback Tug Operator. Communications were normal. When the cabin servicing door was closed I released the brakes upon communication with and concurrence of the Tug Operator. Within approximately 1-2 minutes the Tug Operator 'pulled-up' [the aircraft] and he was standing by for the catering truck to clear the area. At this time I requested and received a push back clearance from DTW Ground Control. Upon receiving the clearance; I informed the Tug Operator that we had clearance to push. I stated you are cleared to push when ready; or words to that effect. The Tug Operator acknowledged and informed that the catering truck was still not clear. Moments later the Tug Driver informed me that the catering truck was clear; and he was signaling his wing walker on the left side of the plane. With the wing walker in place; the Tug Driver commenced pushback. Moments later I heard shouting; and the Tug Driver stopped the pushback abruptly. A small catering passenger vehicle was wedged underneath the right under wing area.Lack of a second wing walker. I was informed that at DTW station policy allows for aircraft movement with only 1 wing walker. This is not a good policy. Improperly parked vehicle; does policy allow unnecessary service vehicles to park in close proximity to aircraft?
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.