Boeing 757-200 N589UA

Summary

On 2 March 2002 at about 14:20 local time, a Boeing 757-200 registered N589UA was involved in an accident near Seattle, Washington, United States. 90 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 March 2002 at 14:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Seattle, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Seattle/Tacoma Int. (KSEA)

Coordinates

47.4399, -122.2805

Aircraft

Boeing 757-200

Registration

N589UA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Seattle → Chigago

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

SEA02LA049

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the deicing truck driver to insure that the deicing basket boom remained clear of the aircraft structure as he backed away from the position he had been in while performing deicing procedures.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

After completing deicing procedures on a company Boeing 757-200, the driver of the deicing truck maneuvered his truck in a manner that caused the deicing basket boom to impact the trailing edge of the aircraft's left aileron. The boom penetrated the aileron to a depth of almost two feet and damaged its spar. The investigation revealed that while backing out from his position behind the aircraft's left wing, the driver had inadvertently turned his steering wheel in a direction that caused the boom, which is mounted on the back end of the truck, to converge on the trailing edge of the aileron.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.