Nashville International collision

[freqslf]

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com (http://edition.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c2#/video/us/2012/08/15/vo-planes-collide.wtvf)

no injuries reported..

[Noah Zark.]

I would imagine that the only injury is to the job prospects of the guy who supposedly connected the tow bar that became unconnected!

[Airbubba]

A ground towing incident.

Planes collide on ground at Nashville airport - WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, AL (http://www.waff.com/story/19276440/planes-collide-on-ground-at-nashville-airport)

[capt767]

I would imagine that the only injury is to the job prospects of the guy who supposedly connected the tow bar that became unconnected!


That's definately the last time he'll be towing an aircraft in his life; or most likely have a ramp job ever again.

Would be really nice to see video surveillance of how this happened. For an Industry where safety is number 1, this is quite shameful. Glad no one was hurt.

[merlinxx]

was it Atlantic or Signature ?

[Semaphore Sam]

That's definately the last time he'll be towing an aircraft in his life; or most likely have a ramp job ever again.
Only logical...but, how about those TSA idiots who 'checked security' of aircraft overnight by climbing up on, and damaging, pitot tubes of parked American Eagle aircraft. They probably got medals, were made managers, and are now in charge of ramp policy for TSA. Sam

[capt767]

Only logical...but, how about those TSA idiots who 'checked security' of aircraft overnight by climbing up on, and damaging, pitot tubes of parked American Eagle aircraft. They probably got medals, were made managers, and are now in charge of ramp policy for TSA. Sam



Now that's evolution gone wrong. They probably didn't get the complete package...brains and all. As for their employers...well...:D:ugh:

[stepwilk]

was it Atlantic or Signature ?

I heard Atlantic.

[woptb]

So you know what happened,& the person towing the aircraft is to blame. If it was a pilot,would you respond in the same way ?

[stepwilk]

the guy who supposedly connected the tow bar that became unconnected

Actually it was originally said that the towbar connector was at fault, not the driver. Typically, they're two different people.

[Airbubba]

It's been a while since I was in that aspect of the business but I believe the Gulfstream has intentionally frangible pins that will break at the towbar to protect the nosewheel from too much force. Additionally, most larger planes I've flown have pins in the nosewheel steering assembly that will shear if angular limits of nosewheel deflection are exceeded with the towbar connected and steering bypass pin installed. I've had this happen once during tug driver OJT, it was a tedious aircraft swap on a Boeing.

I had a Lear get loose during my tug driving days at an FBO. It swung around and caught the corner of a hangar, the only damage was to one of the tip tank fins. I got called to the boss's office. The damaged fin was on his desk. 'GD it, now I've got a $4000 ashtray!' He said from now on we were on a point system, get ten points and I was fired. He said the Lear tip tank fin was worth 20 points.

I've had the towbar pop off during pushback on airliners a couple of times over the years, once as a pax in JFK and another time as crew in CAI. There is moment of confusion followed by (hopefully) a quick application of the brakes.

Most airliner towing is done with a mechanic in the cockpit riding the brakes but in the FBO world often you don't have access to the inside of the plane when you need to reposition it. And famously, some aircraft have ways of losing braking on APU power, e.g. the 727 if the APU breaker trips.

[Cough]

Already on PPRuNe (http://www.pprune.org/biz-jets-ag-flying-ga-etc/492994-ouch-gv-sp-breaks-free-tug-kbna.html)

[stepwilk]

RONed in Rawlins, Wyoming one night, the next morning while I was checking weather, there was a big bang out in the FBO's hangar. The young woman driving the tug, pulling out the State Government's Citation, had hit the vertical fin against the hangar door, which hadn't been motored up far enough. Put the Citation right down on its tail bumper, substantial damage to the tail.

But the point of this war story is that while I was standing in the FBO's office, the middle-aged guy who was in charge picked up the phone, called the pilot, told him to forget about that day's trip AND said that it was entirely his fault--he was the one who hadn't raised the door far enough.

He didn't need to do that. But apparently that's the way they do things in Wyoming.

[woptb]

Someone with a spine !

[Hounddog1]

just wondering if towing speed was a factor aswell, faulty equipment + speed tends to equate to accident. Does'nt anyone check equipment nowadays or do they wait till something like this happens before its pulled from service...

[Hounddog1]

quite a few years ago in the office of a firm i worked for was a large poster of an Air UK FK100 on it, with the price/costs of damaged parts, eg; the ones that are regular damaged whilst in/out hangers. Especially the hangers that had sliding doors, but only a "T" cut out of the top part of hanger where you had to position the aircraft bang on to pass through it without hitting the tail, same applied both ways, in/out ... scared the c**p out of me each time i did it, as variables changed virtually everytime, especially with other aircraft parked nearby or just too damn close... One hell of a learning curve ..

[surely not]

Yes Hounddog the GSE and towbars are all checked and most companies will have a maintenance schedule for the equipment, including towbars.

Plus if you are handling airlines they will all come and audit your operation once a year, check maintenance records, staff training etc.

Love the reaction from some pilots on here who want to fire the person responsible and have them never work on a ramp again. Funny how if it is a pilot related incident we are asked to give the benefit of the doubt etc etc etc.

[Hounddog1]

Surely Not - Very true on pilot related incidents, so the AF 380 pilot that clumped the regional jet whilst taxing - is he still flying with AF in same capacity, or perhaps the pilots of the MAS 777 whose wing clipped the China Eastern at Pudong again whilst taxying(sorry if spelling is wrong), i guess that was benefit of the doubt too, as i guess is the LH pilot that hit the Colgan at KIAD... I would hazzard a guess that they are all still flying with said airlines, if rules apply , then it applies to everyone .. not just ground crew..

[surely not]

Couldn't agree more Hounddog. One of the best stories I have heard re the folly of disposing of experience on the basis of one incident was a Captain who was part of a sequence of events at EGKK that fortunately didn't have serious consequences. The inquiry found mitigating circumstances for the decisions that were made and procedures were changes.

Some years later he went for an interview with an airline that had a base at EGKK. On of the interview panel raised the previous incident and he told me that his reply was along the lines of 'It was found after a full investigation that there were many factors and that the confusion was understandable. Having made the mistake I know what to look out for in the future whereas those who haven't made the mistake are potentially yet to make the mistake'

I hope I haven't identified anyone as he was a really nice man and by all accounts a very good pilot.