- Date
- March 10, 1987, 12:10 local (17:10 UTC)
- Place
- Burlington, VT
- Injuries
- 104 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Pushback/towing
- Aircraft
- N780ALBoeing 727
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870310008029A
- Case key
- 30619
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
In preparation for powering away from the gate, one groundman was stationed off the left nose of the acft and another was positioned by the left wing tip. The plt advanced the throttles and initiated a right turn. The throttles were brought back to idle shortly after the acft started rolling to prevent jet blast damage. According to the cpt of flt 37, the second time he looked out the window he saw a groundman giving him a signal to slow down, however, it was too late to avoid hitting the jetway with the left wing tip. Investigation revealed that the jetway had been improperly positioned making it impossible for the Boeing 727 to clear it.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N780AL
- Reported as
- Boeing 727
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21999
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-17A, turbo fan
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Usair
- Registered owner
- Usair
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- BVT · Burlington, VT
- Destination
- San Francisco, CA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- BTV · Burlington
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 38
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Unknown, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 8,150 total · 5,250 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.