- Date
- September 21, 2003, 16:10 local (23:10 UTC)
- Place
- Phoenix, AZ
- Injuries
- 32 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Pushback/towing
- Aircraft
- N455YVde Havilland DH-8-202
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20030921026619A
- Case key
- 57979
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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Probable cause
the ground agent's inadequate visual lookout during push back, which resulted in his failure to maintain clearance between the airplanes.
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
On push back from the gate, the airplane collided with a parked and unoccupied Bombardier CL-65. The elevator of the CL-65 sliced through the rudder of deHavilland. A ground agent was pushing the deHavilland from the gate and did not clear the 30-foot turn line. He then pushed the tail into the CL-65; as a result, the elevator of the CL-65 sliced through the rudder of the deHavilland. The operator felt the accident could have been prevented if the ground agent would have watched his wing walkers during the push back and cleared the turn line, prior to turning the airplane.
Factual narrative
On September 21, 2003, about 1610 mountain standard time, a deHavilland DH-8-202, N455YV, struck a parked and unoccupied Bombardier CL-65 airplane, N7358, when ground personnel were pushing the deHavilland for departure at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX), Phoenix, Arizona. The elevator of the Bombardier sliced through the rudder of deHavilland. The deHavilland sustained substantial damage. The airline transport pilot, commercial co-pilot, 1 flight attendant, and 29 passengers on the deHavilland were not injured. Mesa Airlines, Inc., d.b.a. America West Express, was operating the flight under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 121. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the scheduled domestic passenger cross-country flight that was destined for Yuma MCAS-Yuma International (YUM), Yuma, Arizona, with a 1605 departure. An instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed.
The operator reported in a written statement that a ground agent was pushing the deHavilland from the gate and did not clear the 30-foot turn line. The ground agent then pushed the tail into the Bombardier; as a result, the elevator of the Bombardier sliced through the rudder of the deHavilland. The operator felt the accident could have been prevented if the ground agent would have watched his wing walkers during the push back and cleared the turn line, prior to turning the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N455YV
- Reported as
- de Havilland DH-8-202
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 455
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney PW123D, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Mesa Airlines, Inc., doing business as America West Express
- Registered owner
- Wells Fargo Bank Northwest NA Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
- Destination
- YUM · Yuma, AZ
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PHX · Phoenix Sky Harbor
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 33
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Flight hours
- 4,800 total · 870 in this make and model
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 26
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Flight hours
- 1,350 total · 900 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.