Boeing 757-33N N557TZ

Summary

On 20 August 2005 at about 13:54 local time, a Boeing 757-33N registered N557TZ, operated by American Trans Air Inc, was involved in an accident near Chicago, Illinois, United States. 171 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

20 August 2005 at 13:54

Classification

Accident

Location

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Chicago Midway (MDW)

Coordinates

41.7875, -87.7542

Aircraft

Boeing 757-33N

Registration

N557TZ

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

American Trans Air Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chicago → San Francisco

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI05LA238

Nobody was injured.

The flightcrew's failure to maintain clearance from a fence while taxiing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The aircraft sustained substantial damage during a collision with a fence while taxing to runway 22L for takeoff at the Chicago Midway International Airport. The captain stated, "Advised of 9 [minute] delay for release. Maneuvered A/C [aircraft] out of the way of other departing A/C. Went to place A/C in corner west of terminal C; east of hold short line as previously done. Both [captain and first officer] closely monitored the final left turn with respect to aircraft proximity to perimeter fence. Toward end of turn, nose wheel skipped as if crossing wet/slick pavement. ... [Flight attendant] called to state that [a passenger] had said wing had struck the fence." The airplane was found parked by hold short line for runway 22L with its right wing tip in the perimeter fence. The airplane was not on a taxiway centerline. The area was marked as a movement area. Approximately the outboard four foot section of the right wing's leading edge slat was crushed rearward and the slat was imbedded in an I-beam channel that held up the perimeter fence panels there. The I-beams were yellow and the panels were gray in color. A leading edge wing rib was dented, cracked about 1.25 inches, and was bowed. The airport perimeter fence was damaged. The operator's safety recommendation stated, "In addition to providing all of our flight crews with instructions not to enter this area, we conducted a survey of the area and recommend the following: Contact Jeppesen and recommend that the charts for the MDW Airport be revised to show this area as a "Push Back Zone" and note that aircraft should not taxi into any part of the push back zone. I spoke to several crewmembers about this recommendation and the consensus among those interviewed was that a notice on the chart would not be necessary; however, it might alert them to the fact that this is a tight area and should not be used as an alternate holding area. They believe that crews in general should not move off of marked taxi lines under any circumstance and good aviation practices, if observed, would keep this type of event from occurring."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.