- Date
- April 13, 1988, 13:10 local (20:10 UTC)
- Place
- Portland, OR
- Injuries
- 98 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Pushback/towing
- Aircraft
- N291ASBoeing 727-290
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 25, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880413026329I
- Case key
- 40742
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
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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
The Boeing 727 was pushed back fm the gate counterclockwise through an arc of 90 degrees resulting in mispositioning the acft relative to the intended taxi direction. The ground crew (tug and safety operators) attempted to resolve the out of position condition by continuing the push back through a second 90 degree (counterclockwise) arc. This required pushing the aircraft upslope across the ramp. During the second 90 degree arc the tug became positioned approximately 90 degrees to the towbar/aircraft longitudinal axis. The downslope and idle power conditions overpowered the tug's braking capacity and the tow bar broke under a bending load allowing the aircraft to roll forward impacting the tug. All three B-727 engines were operating at idle thrust.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N291AS
- Reported as
- Boeing 727-290
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21511
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-217, 14,500 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Alaska Airlines, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Gatx Leasing Corporation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Destination
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PDX · Portland Intnl
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 52
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 17,000 total · 15,000 in this make and model · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,300 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PDX
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.