- Date
- September 9, 1988, 14:14 local (19:14 UTC)
- Place
- Minneapolis, MN
- Injuries
- 71 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Pushback/towing
- Aircraft
- N729RWBoeing 727-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880909069689A
- Case key
- 13971
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Failure of the captain to follow company pushback procedures and not getting a release before starting to taxi.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
After pushback from the jetway, the airplane hit a ground handling vehicle (tug) as the flt crew started to taxi for takeoff. An investigation revealed that after pushback, the ground crew informed the flt crew (via intercom) that the bypass pin was removed & the steering was connected. The ground crewman ended the converstation by stating 'you gentlemen have a nice trip, see you another day.' The intercom was disconnected & the captain started to taxi, before receiving a visual signal from the ground crew & before the tug was removed from the airplane's path. Subsequently, the airplane hit the top of the tug & damaged the lower right part of the forward fuselage (below the cockpit windows).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N729RW
- Reported as
- Boeing 727-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21742
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-17R, 18,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Registered owner
- Northwest Airlines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Destination
- YWG · Winnipeg,Canada, OF
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- MSP · Minneapolis/St.Paul Intl
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 58
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 25,000 total · 3,500 in this make and model · 20,000 as pilot in command · 82 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 16 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.