# Incident 19990211019789I: Boeing 757251, Minneapolis, MN, February 11, 1999

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: February 11, 1999, 07:45 local time
- Place: Minneapolis, MN
- Airport: Minneapolis-St Paul International-Wold
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Other Ground Ops
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: NWAA
- Location: 44.9800° N, 93.2638° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Minneapolis, MN, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=44.9800&lon=-93.2638&mi=10
- Aircraft: N538US, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N538US-2025-04-07) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Boeing 757-251 (registry code 1384970, https://openairdocs.org/model/boeing-757-251) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Pratt & Whitney PW2037 (registry code 52117, https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-pw2037) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BOEING 757251
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 5,803 total, 1,608 in this make and model, 130 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19990211019789I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ON FEBRUARY 11, 1999, AT ABOUT 7:45 A.M. STANDARD TIME, A BOEING 757-251, N538US, OPERATED BY NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC. (NWA) AS FLIGHT 348 MSP-DCA, COLLIDED WITH AN NWA-OPERATED DEICING TRUCK. THE COLLISION OCCURRED ON THE RUNWAY 12L REMOTE DEICING PAD AFTER DEICING OF THE AIRCRAFT HAD BEEN COMPLETED.  THE AIRCRAFT'S RIGHT WING STRUCK THE EXTENDED BOOM OF THE DEICING TRUCK WHICH WAS POSITIONED AT THE CENTER OF THE RIGHT WING LEADING EDGE.  THE ENCLOSED BUCKET ON THE EXTENDED BOOM CONTACTED THE GROUND, CAUSING MINOR INJURIES TO THE BUCKET OPERATOR, WHOSE SAFETY HARNESS WAS SECURED.  THE TRUCK DRIVER ALSO SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES DURING EGRESS FROM THE TRUCK.  THE AIRCRAFT'S LEADING EDGE SLAT, WHICH WAS EXTENDED IN THE TAKEOFF CONFIGURATION, WAS DAMAGED.  NO PASSENGERS OR CREWMEMBERS WERE INJURED.  INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE TIME, WITH OVERCAST SKIES, LIGHT FREEZING RAIN, AND NORTHWEST WINDS AT 15 KNOTS GUSTING TO 22 KNOTS.  THE FLIGHT WAS OPERATED UNDER 14 CFR 121, WITH AN INTENDED DESTINATION OF WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT.  SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN DEICING PAD COMMUNICATIONS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.  THIS REPORT IS CLOSED.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.