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Cases › WPR09LA255 · Part 121 airline

EMBRAER EMB-135American Eagle Airlines Inc

Los Angeles, CA, USA · 2009-05-21·N843AE

0
fatal
0
serious
No injury
highest injury
Substantial
damage
Replay the flight data481 samples · 11 parameters26:28:27.0 – 26:36:27.0AnalyseThe analystOne timeline · precedents · ask the docket · what the record saysGenerateInvestigation briefFacts, cause, recorder extremes, sequence, sourcesSourceNTSB docket8 documents on data.ntsb.gov

What happened

NTSB summary, verbatim

Following push back from the gate, as the captain was taxiing the airplane from the ramp to the runway, the left horizontal stabilizer struck the right horizontal stabilizer of a parked company airplane at an adjacent gate, resulting in substantial damage to both airplanes' flight control surfaces. According to the flight crew statements and a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident site, the parked airplane had been improperly parked with the right wing tip and horizontal stabilizer well outside the safety lines.

Photographs

4the aircraft, and what the investigators found
The aircraft before the accident
American Eagle, N843AE, Embraer ERJ-140LR (49593788762)
Anna Zvereva from Tallinn, Estonia · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wreckage and site documentation · 3 photographs from the docket

Photographs are NTSB docket attachments — works of the US government, in the public domain. Captions are the Board’s own.

Probable cause

the Board's determination
The flight crew's failure to adequately monitor and maintain clearance from a parked aircraft while taxiing. Contributing to the accident was an improperly parked airplane that encroached upon the taxiway area.

Occurrence sequence

1 stepsNTSB coding · CICTT taxonomy
  1. 1 · Taxi-to runway
    Ground collision
    defining event

Findings

2 causal · 0 contributing
  • CAUSE
    Personnel issues › Psychological › Attention/monitoring › Monitoring other aircraft — Flight crew
  • CAUSE
    Aircraft › Aircraft handling/service › Parking/securing › Parking/storage — Incorrect use/operation

Sequence of events

7 timed eventsfrom the FDR factual report · claude-sonnet-5
  1. approximately 3 minutes 30 seconds after FDR began recordingTaxip.3
    The airplane began to move
  2. approximately 1 minute after airplane began to moveTaxip.3
    Movement was halted
  3. following haltTaxip.3
    Engine 1 was then powered up to 25% N1
  4. after Engine 1 power upTaxip.3
    The N1 of Engine 1 increased and the plane began to move again
  5. approximately 15 seconds after resuming movementTaxip.3
    Airplane came to an abrupt halt; airplane was turning to the right during this movement
  6. approximately 1 minute 15 seconds after airplane haltedTaxip.3
    Engine 1 was shut down
  7. during recordingTaxip.3
    The pilot's brake pedals were being manipulated, whereas the copilot's brake pedals were not

NTSB analysis

from the final report

Following push back from the gate, as the captain was taxiing the airplane from the ramp to the runway, the left horizontal stabilizer struck the right horizontal stabilizer of a parked company airplane at an adjacent gate, resulting in substantial damage to both airplanes' flight control surfaces. According to the flight crew statements and a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident site, the parked airplane had been improperly parked with the right wing tip and horizontal stabilizer well outside the safety lines.