Can't access the NTSB site at the mo...
But, here is more detailed version of what occured:
Two Northwest Airlines planes collided on the ground in 2005 after thrust reversers failed, in effect meaning the pilot was unknowingly hitting the gas instead of the brakes, according to a recent report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The collision between a DC-9 with hydraulic problems and a parked Airbus didn't kill anyone, but it was widely considered a very close call. Jet fuel poured into the demolished cocpit of the DC-9, soaking the seriously injured pilot, and both planes had to be evacuated.
The NTSB report issued late last month describes a series of hydraulic mishaps with flight 1495 from Columbus, Ohio, to Minneapolis.
One of the plane's two hydraulic systems failed in flight. That by itself wouldn't have been a huge problem, but after landing the crew shut down one engine, a common fuel-saving practice. That turned out to be the engine that powered the only hydraulic system that still worked.
Without hydraulics, the pilots couldn't steer, brake, or use thrust reversers. The NTSB cited the engine shutdown as the main cause of the crash, with the initial hydraulic failure as a contributing factor.
Knowing the plane had hydraulic problems, the captain declared an emergency before landing in Minneapolis, and the airport stationed firetrucks near the runway. But after a normal landing the DC-9 with 94 passengers taxied off the runway, and the firetrucks were sent back.
At some point as it taxied away from the runway, the left engine was shut down. As they turned into the gate area, the nose wheel steering failed.
When the captain said he couldn't steer, the co-pilot thought he was kidding, and laughed, according to the transcript of their conversation included in the NTSB report.
To keep the plane from rolling they applied the brakes, then asked to be towed to the gate. About a minute later, the brakes failed, too. The pilot turned on the thrust reversers, a device on the back of the jet engines that diverts their thrust forward, pushing the plane backward. That held the plane in place while the crew waited to be towed.
"Try the brakes. It's s-scary," the captain said to his co-pilot three minutes later, while they waited.
A minute later, still waiting for a tow, the captain said, "You know what? I coulda lost my reversers. We coulda gone right into that airplane."
Just over a minute later, that's exactly what happened.
The plane began to roll forward, slowly at first. The captain turned on the reverse thrusters—which had worked during the landing. They weren't working now. Instead the extra power made the plane move faster, without brakes or steering.
Perhaps seeing the plane moving again, ground control came over the radio: "Got your problem worked out?"
Nine seconds later the front of the DC-9 barreled into the wing of the Airbus at about 16 mph, the NTSB estimated. "The cockpit imploded and glass came flying in," the report says.
The captain felt jet fuel pouring on him. Through a hole in the wreckage between him and the co-pilot, he could see the co-pilot opening a cockpit window and believed he was getting out of the plane that way. The captain eventually wriggled through the demolished cockpit and out into the cabin, which had already been evacuated.
A ground worker banged away on a cockpit window with a fire ax to free the co-pilot, unsuccessfully. He got out a few minutes later through the back of the cockpit.
The Northwest Branch of the Air Line Pilots Association said it had no comment on the NTSB report.
The NTSB said the initial hydraulic problem was caused by a worn-out shutoff valve. Northwest Airlines Corp. spokesman Bill Mellon said the airline inspected those valves on all its planes and replaced all that showed any sign of cracking.
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_5801459