Wingtip of B727 freighter strikes ground vehicle while being guided to parking by a marshaller.

Attributes
ACN	343910
Time
Date	199608
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	0001 To 0600
Place
Locale Reference	airport : stl
State Reference	MO
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B727 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	ground other : taxi
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : second officer
Qualification	pilot : flight engineer pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 35 flight time total : 6300 flight time type : 30
ASRS Report	343910
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	conflict : ground critical
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	other
Miss Distance	horizontal : 0 vertical : 0
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Airport
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

While parking at stl cargo ramp the right wingtip struck a k- loader while the marshaller was directing our aircraft forward. The marshaller had lighted wands. However, after the incident it was brought to our attention that the said marshaller was not qualified to direct aircraft. Aside from stopping and parking the aircraft every time we thought we were in close proximity to ground equipment I do not see how we could have avoided this. We are dependent on marshallers for wingtip clearance.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: WINGTIP OF B727 FREIGHTER STRIKES GND VEHICLE WHILE BEING GUIDED TO PARKING BY A MARSHALLER.

Narrative: WHILE PARKING AT STL CARGO RAMP THE R WINGTIP STRUCK A K- LOADER WHILE THE MARSHALLER WAS DIRECTING OUR ACFT FORWARD. THE MARSHALLER HAD LIGHTED WANDS. HOWEVER, AFTER THE INCIDENT IT WAS BROUGHT TO OUR ATTN THAT THE SAID MARSHALLER WAS NOT QUALIFIED TO DIRECT ACFT. ASIDE FROM STOPPING AND PARKING THE ACFT EVERY TIME WE THOUGHT WE WERE IN CLOSE PROX TO GND EQUIP I DO NOT SEE HOW WE COULD HAVE AVOIDED THIS. WE ARE DEPENDENT ON MARSHALLERS FOR WINGTIP CLRNC.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.