# Accident 19990807041891A: Dhav DHC6300, Ketchikan, AK, August 7, 1999

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: August 7, 1999, 09:30 local time
- Place: Ketchikan, AK
- Damage: Minor damage
- Collision: Midair collision, first aircraft
- Phase of flight: Idling Engines
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: S9BA
- Location: 55.6102° N, 131.5795° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=55.6102&lon=-131.5795&mi=10
- Aircraft: N224SA, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N224SA) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Dehavilland DHC-6-300 (registry code 2802630, https://openairdocs.org/model/dehavilland-dhc-6-300) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Pratt & Whitney PT6A series (registry code 52032, https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-pt6a-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: DHAV DHC6300
- Reported engine: PWA PT6A27
- People aboard: 17
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 10,000 total, 3,500 in this make and model, 277 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ANC99LA107](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC99LA107) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19990807041891A

## Narrative

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

(.4)A PAIR OF FLOAT EQUIPPED, TWIN ENGINE AIRPLANES WERE EACH PARKED PARALLEL TO A DOCK. THE AIRPLANES WERE SEPARATED BY ABOUT EIGHT FEET, ONE IN FRONT OF THE OTHER.  BOTH AIRPLANES, OPERATED BY THE SAME COMPANY, WERE PREPARING TO DEPART ON SIGHTSEEING FLIGHTS.  THE CREW OF FIRST AIRPLANE, N288SA, WAS BEGINNING A PASSENGER BRIEFING.  THE PASSENGERS WERE ON BOARD THE AIRPLANE, BUT THE ENGINES HAD NOT BEEN STARTED.  THE CREW OF THE SECOND AIRPLANE, N224SA, HAD COMPLETED A BRIEFING TO THEIR PASSENGERS, AND HAD STARTED THE ENGINES. N224SA WAS TETHERED TO THE DOCK BY ROPES ATTACHED TO THE FLOATS AT THE FORWARD AND AFT END OF THE AIRPLANE.  EACH ROPE WAS TENDED BY A COMPANY DOCK HANDLER.  DUE TO A SLIGHT CHANGE IN THE MANNER THE PASSENGERS ARRIVED FROM A CRUISE SHIP, THE PASSENGERS HAD NOT RECEIVED A BRIEFING BOOKLET BEFORE BOARDING THE AIRPLANE.  A COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE APPROACHED THE FORWARD DOCK HANDLER TO HAND THE BRIEFING BOOKLETS TO THE AIRPLANE CREW.  THE AFT DOCK HANDLER OBSERVED THIS ACTIVITY AND MISTOOK ITS MEANING AS A 'THUMBS UP' SIGNAL.  HE RELEASED THE DOCKING ROPE, ALLOWING N224SA TO BEGIN MOVING FORWARD UNDER IDLE POWER.  THE NOSE OF N224SA COLLIDED WITH THE TAIL OF N28 8SA. N288SA RECEIVED DAMAGE TO THE RUDDER AND TROM TAB ASSEMBLY.  N224SA RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE TO THE LEFT PILOT TUBE, AND THE LEFT SIDE OF THE NOSE.(-23) WITH ENGINES RUNNING, DOCK PERSONNEL UNTIED THE AIRCRAFT WITHOUT RECEIVING RELEASE SIGNAL FROM THE CAPTAIN. N224 MOVED FORWARD COLLIDING WITH N288. N224 RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE TO RADOME AND PITOT TUBE.

## Other aircraft in the event

- N288SA, Dhav DHC6300: [Accident 19990807041892A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19990807041892A)

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB ANC99LA107](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC99LA107), Aug 7, 1999: de Havilland DHC-6-300 (N224SA), Ketchikan, AK, minor damage. Probable cause: A failure of ground handling personnel to verify a release procedure/directive, and removal of the airplane's tiedown, and subsequent collision with a parked airplane.

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.

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