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Aircraft tug driver and his wing walker reported they struck another aircraft on an adjacent gate during pushback procedure.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1292909 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201509 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Ramp |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Ramp Vehicle Driver |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Aircraft |
Narrative:
During a push out an accident occurred. Because of the tight turn that has to be made on that gate; the lead on the pushback made a sharp cut to avoid going over the zipper line on the push out. While pulling back; he realized that he was too far over the service road; therefore he pushed it up some more as a means of adjustment. He then proceeded to pull back once more; and I; the wing walker noticed that a cart connected to a tug was in the way. I asked the pushback driver to stop; so that I could move the object out of the way (as a precautionary measure). Once that was done; I gave him the go ahead to recommence the pull back. It was then that I looked up (with the glare of the sun in my eyes); and noticed that we were dangerously close to the wing of the aircraft on [an adjacent gate]. I hastily gave him the signal to stop the pull as soon as possible; while jumping up and down; screaming at the top of my lungs to regain his attention. But unfortunately it came through about half a second too late; as the damage was done.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Aircraft tug driver and his wing walker reported they struck another aircraft on an adjacent gate during pushback procedure.
Narrative: During a push out an accident occurred. Because of the tight turn that has to be made on that gate; the lead on the pushback made a sharp cut to avoid going over the zipper line on the push out. While pulling back; he realized that he was too far over the service road; therefore he pushed it up some more as a means of adjustment. He then proceeded to pull back once more; and I; the wing walker noticed that a cart connected to a tug was in the way. I asked the pushback driver to stop; so that I could move the object out of the way (as a precautionary measure). Once that was done; I gave him the go ahead to recommence the pull back. It was then that I looked up (with the glare of the sun in my eyes); and noticed that we were dangerously close to the wing of the aircraft on [an adjacent gate]. I hastily gave him the signal to stop the pull ASAP; while jumping up and down; screaming at the top of my lungs to regain his attention. But unfortunately it came through about half a second too late; as the damage was done.
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.