# NTSB investigations, 2014: Pushback/towing

NTSB aviation accident and incident investigations since 1962: the probable cause, findings, aircraft, crew, weather and docket of each, linked to the FAA registry and the FAA’s own reports.

## Latest cases

- [NTSB DCA15CA012](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DCA15CA012.md): Embraer-Empresa Brasileira De ERJ 170 200 LR · Minneapolis, MN · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Oct 23, 2014 · N622CZ · 2 aircraft · Substantial damage
  > the B757 Captain's failure to maintain a safe clearance between his wing and the wingtip of the ERJ-170. Contributing to the accident was the positioning of the ERJ-170 by the Compass ground personnel.
- [NTSB DCA15WA021](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DCA15WA021.md): Airbus 330-200 · Karachi, Pakistan · Incident · No injuries · Foreign investigation · Oct 4, 2014 · A6-EAQ · Minor damage
  > The United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has notified the NTSB of an incident involving an Emirates AIRBUS 330-200 that occurred on October 04, 2014. The NTSB has appointed a U.S. Accredited Representative to assist the GCAA…
- [NTSB CEN14LA430](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN14LA430.md): Bombardier CL600 2D24 - 900 · San Antonio, TX · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Aug 9, 2014 · N943LR · Substantial damage
  > Failure of the tow bar shear pin, which resulted in the tug operator’s loss of control of the airplane during pushback operations. Contributing to the accident was the tug operator’s inability to communicate to the flight crew to apply the airplane’s brakes.
- [NTSB DCA14CA093](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DCA14CA093.md): Mcdonnell Douglas MD90 - 30 · Boston, MA · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · May 12, 2014 · N933DN · Substantial damage
  > the captain's failure to verify the communications between himself and the tug operator, which resulted in him applying of brakes while the airplane was being pushed back from the gate by the tug with tow bar attached.

## The whole list in SQL

Runs in DuckDB 1.2 or later on the release's Parquet files over HTTPS:

```sql
WITH phase_names(main, name) AS (VALUES (100, 'Prior to flight'), (150, 'Standing'), (200, 'Pushback/towing'), (250, 'Taxi'), (300, 'Takeoff'), (350, 'Initial climb'), (400, 'Enroute'), (450, 'Maneuvering'), (500, 'Approach'), (550, 'Landing'), (600, 'Emergency descent'), (650, 'Uncontrolled descent'), (700, 'Post-impact'), (750, 'After landing'), (800, 'Other'), (990, 'Unknown')),
  crosswalk(code, main, name) AS (VALUES (500, 150, 'Standing'), (501, 150, 'Standing - pre-flight'), (502, 150, 'Standing - starting engine(s)'), (503, 150, 'Standing - engine(s) operating'), (504, 150, 'Standing - engine(s) not operating'), (505, 150, 'Standing - idling rotors'), (510, 250, 'Taxi'), (511, 200, 'Taxi - pushback/tow'), (512, 250, 'Taxi - to takeoff'), (513, 250, 'Taxi - from landing'), (514, 250, 'Taxi - aerial'), (520, 300, 'Takeoff'), (521, 300, 'Takeoff - roll/run'), (522, 350, 'Takeoff - initial climb'), (523, 300, 'Takeoff - aborted'), (530, 400, 'Climb'), (531, 400, 'Climb - to cruise'), (540, 400, 'Cruise'), (541, 400, 'Cruise - normal'), (542, 400, 'Maneuvering - holding (IFR)'), (550, 400, 'Descent'), (551, 400, 'Descent - normal'), (552, 600, 'Descent - emergency'), (553, 650, 'Descent - uncontrolled'), (560, 500, 'Approach'), (561, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - downwind'), (562, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - base turn'), (563, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - base leg/base to final'), (564, 500, 'Approach - VFR pattern - final approach'), (565, 500, 'Go-around (VFR)'), (566, 500, 'Approach - IAF to FAF/outer marker (IFR)'), (567, 500, 'Approach - FAF/outer marker to threshold (IFR)'), (568, 500, 'Circling (IFR)'), (569, 500, 'Missed approach (IFR)'), (570, 550, 'Landing'), (571, 550, 'Landing - flare/touchdown'), (572, 550, 'Landing - roll'), (573, 550, 'Landing - aborted'), (574, 550, 'Emergency landing'), (575, 550, 'Emergency landing after takeoff'), (576, 600, 'Emergency descent/landing'), (580, 450, 'Maneuvering'), (581, 450, 'Maneuvering - aerial application'), (582, 450, 'Maneuvering - turn to reverse direction'), (583, 450, 'Maneuvering - turn to landing area (emergency)'), (590, 450, 'Hover'), (591, 450, 'Hover - in ground effect'), (592, 450, 'Hover - out of ground effect'), (600, 800, 'Other'), (610, 990, 'Unknown')),
  current_codes AS (
    SELECT e.case_mkey, TRY_CAST(e."tier1Number" AS INTEGER) AS code,
      row_number() OVER (PARTITION BY e.case_mkey ORDER BY coalesce(e."isDefiningEvent", false) DESC, e.position) AS n
    FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_events.parquet' e
    WHERE e.aircrafts_position = 1 AND e."tier1Number" GLOB '[1-9][0-9]*'
      AND (e."isDefiningEvent" OR e.case_mkey IN (SELECT "mKey" FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' WHERE "isPre1982"))
  ),
  phases AS (
    SELECT case_mkey, 'current' AS scheme, code, CASE WHEN code >= 990 THEN 990 ELSE code // 50 * 50 END AS main
    FROM current_codes WHERE n = 1
    UNION ALL
    SELECT o.case_mkey, 'older', o."phaseOfFlightCode", w.main
    FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_occurrences.parquet' o JOIN crosswalk w ON w.code = o."phaseOfFlightCode"
    WHERE o.aircrafts_position = 1 AND o."occurrenceNumber" = 1 AND o.case_mkey NOT IN (SELECT case_mkey FROM current_codes)
  ),
  case_phases AS (
    SELECT p.*, c."eventDate", c."highestInjuryLevel" = 'Fatal' AS fatal, a.aircraft_model_code
    FROM phases p JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c ON c."mKey" = p.case_mkey
    LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = p.case_mkey AND a.position = 1
    WHERE c."eventDate" >= DATE '1962-01-01' AND p.main IN (SELECT main FROM phase_names)
  )
SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE year(c."eventDate") = 2014
  AND c."mKey" IN (SELECT case_mkey FROM case_phases WHERE main = 200)
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC
```

This list as a web page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/200/cases?year=2014

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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.
