De Havilland DH-8-202 N455YV

Summary

On 21 September 2003 at about 23:10 local time, a De Havilland DH-8-202 registered N455YV, operated by Mesa Airlines, Inc., was involved in an accident near Phoenix, Arizona, United States. 32 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

21 September 2003 at 23:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX)

Coordinates

33.4342, -112.0081

Aircraft

De Havilland DH-8-202

Registration

N455YV

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Mesa Airlines, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Phoenix → Yuma

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03LA295

Nobody was injured.

the ground agent's inadequate visual lookout during push back, which resulted in his failure to maintain clearance between the airplanes.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On push back from the gate, the airplane collided with a parked and unoccupied Bombardier CL-65. The elevator of the CL-65 sliced through the rudder of deHavilland. A ground agent was pushing the deHavilland from the gate and did not clear the 30-foot turn line. He then pushed the tail into the CL-65; as a result, the elevator of the CL-65 sliced through the rudder of the deHavilland. The operator felt the accident could have been prevented if the ground agent would have watched his wing walkers during the push back and cleared the turn line, prior to turning the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.