Bombardier CL-600-2D24 N909FJ

Summary

On 1 May 2006 at about 06:01 local time, a Bombardier CL-600-2D24 registered N909FJ, operated by Mesa Airlines, Inc., was involved in an accident near Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. 89 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

1 May 2006 at 06:01

Classification

Accident

Location

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Nearest airport

Mc Carran International (LAS)

Coordinates

36.0800, -115.1522

Aircraft

Bombardier CL-600-2D24

Registration

N909FJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Mesa Airlines, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Las Vegas → Dallas

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

LAX06LA154

Nobody was injured.

The failure of ground service personnel to properly set the parking brake on the lead baggage cart.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airliner was struck by a loose string of baggage carts while taxiing for departure. The airplane was traveling down a taxiway toward the active runway, and upon reaching an intersection, the captain noticed a loose string of baggage carts moving rapidly toward the airplane in an angled path from left to right. He swerved the airplane to the right of the centerline in an effort to avoid collision with the baggage carts. The lead rolling baggage cart struck the airplane's left wing, and the airplane traveled about 150 feet further down the taxiway before coming to a complete stop. The lead baggage cart came to rest wedged between the wing and taxiway surface. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The string of carts came from the direction of the concourse D gates 10 through 14. The baggage carts were equipped with a manual towbar actuated front two-wheel brake system. The parking brake is designed to activate by the operator raising the towbar to the vertical position. To release the parking brake, the brake/towbar-latch is pushed down by foot while the top of the tow bar is pushed inward toward the cart until the brake/towbar-latch is unhooked. Northwest Airlines, the owner of runaway carts, issued an employee memorandum after the accident reiterating the importance of ensuring that the braking system is engaged when leaving carts unattended.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.