Narrative:

As we pulled closer to the gate - but before getting to the service road that runs perpendicular to the gates; I did a visual scan of the area around the gate where the aircraft would be parked. In my opinion it looked clear. There were several bag carts moving on the service road but they stopped to accommodate us. The dgs (docking guidance system) was working. There were no rampers at our gate but there were some at the [nearby] gate working. We decided the area was clear and proceeded to park with no rampers; but used the guidance from the parking system. Once we entered the gate area (30-40ft from the gate) my focus was on the dgs; the area in front of me and area to my left. Approximately 3ft from being parked we felt a slight bump; almost like we had run over a fuel hose. At that point a ramper got my first officer's attention and gave him a visual indication that we bumped into a bag cart on the right side of the aircraft. The bottom leading edge of the aircraft's wing hit the bag cart's right rear corner roughly 1-2 ft from the tip of the wing. The wing went over the bag cart on the bottom side of the wing's leading edge and left a scratch. I immediately notified maintenance and my supervisor. This is a very poorly run ramp area with a lot of threats in every direction. But in this specific situation; some of the largest threats are as follows: the markings near the gate area are faint and unclear. A safety zone is not clearly marked for pilots if marked at all. There are red lines in front of the gate that extend out from the j-line and stop at the fueling area. They only let you know that you are clear of the fueling area. Other than that it's pretty tough to determine the exact boundaries of the safety area. In retrospect; other threats were that the cart was left in an unsafe location; we did not have rampers and I may have relied a little too much on the dgs (thinking that it provided obstruction clearance.)in the future if the boundaries are unclear for the gates at airports with a dgs; I will wait for rampers. I feel that the area could be better marked; but in the end I know that it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of the aircraft and passengers. I'm not trying to pass blame. My hope is that this is a learning opportunity; not only for me; but for all involved. Hopefully this incident will improve ramp operations.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-145 flight crew reported a right wing tip contact with a bag cart while parking using the auto park system. Poor pavement markings in the gate area were reported to be a contributing factor.

Narrative: As we pulled closer to the gate - but before getting to the service road that runs perpendicular to the gates; I did a visual scan of the area around the gate where the aircraft would be parked. In my opinion it looked clear. There were several bag carts moving on the service road but they stopped to accommodate us. The DGS (docking guidance system) was working. There were no rampers at our gate but there were some at the [nearby] gate working. We decided the area was clear and proceeded to park with no rampers; but used the guidance from the parking system. Once we entered the gate area (30-40ft from the gate) my focus was on the DGS; the area in front of me and area to my left. Approximately 3ft from being parked we felt a slight bump; almost like we had run over a fuel hose. At that point a ramper got my First officer's attention and gave him a visual indication that we bumped into a bag cart on the right side of the aircraft. The bottom leading edge of the aircraft's wing hit the bag cart's right rear corner roughly 1-2 ft from the tip of the wing. The wing went over the bag cart on the bottom side of the wing's leading edge and left a scratch. I immediately notified maintenance and my supervisor. This is a very poorly run ramp area with a lot of threats in every direction. But in this specific situation; some of the largest threats are as follows: The markings near the gate area are faint and unclear. A safety zone is not clearly marked for pilots if marked at all. There are red lines in front of the gate that extend out from the j-line and stop at the fueling area. They only let you know that you are clear of the fueling area. Other than that it's pretty tough to determine the exact boundaries of the safety area. In retrospect; other threats were that the cart was left in an unsafe location; we did not have rampers and I may have relied a little too much on the DGS (thinking that it provided obstruction clearance.)In the future if the boundaries are unclear for the gates at airports with a DGS; I will wait for rampers. I feel that the area could be better marked; but in the end I know that it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of the aircraft and passengers. I'm not trying to pass blame. My hope is that this is a learning opportunity; not only for me; but for all involved. Hopefully this incident will improve ramp operations.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.