Investigation Summary
The accident occurred at Gate 30 of Norfolk International Airport during night visual conditions. The aircraft was stationary with its engines off as boarding was in progress for Flight 1569. A witness on a nearby baggage tug observed the pushback tractor maneuver toward the nose gear, followed by a loud noise as the towbar buckled upward into the air. The tractor, which lacked a protective enclosure or roll bar for the driver, continued forward until it struck the radome. Post-accident inspection of the tractor revealed no mechanical anomalies, and it had been used successfully by other employees earlier that day. The NTSB investigation highlighted significant training lapses: although the driver had completed general industrial truck training in April 2003, she was assigned to baggage room duties on the day of the accident and was not authorized to operate the pushback tractor. Furthermore, the airline's Ground Operations Manual at the time lacked specific written guidance for the towbar connection procedure, which was then treated as a single-person task.
Final Conclusions
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause was the ground person's failure to properly control the pushback tug and maintain adequate clearance from the airplane. Contributing factors included the employee's operation of the tug without proper qualification or authorization, and the absence of a protective enclosure on the tug's cab to prevent the driver from being crushed against the airframe in a collision.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
Systems & Failure Modes
Pushback Tractor
A diesel-powered vehicle with an automatic transmission used to move aircraft. The accident unit lacked rearward-facing mirrors and a protective cab enclosure.
Towbar
A mechanical link between the tug and the aircraft nose gear. In this event, the towbar buckled and failed to engage the tug's hitch, allowing the tug to pass under the nose.
Interesting Facts
- 01The pushback tractor was an open-air type cab with no roll bar or protective enclosure.
- 02The driver had not received documented pushback training since 1992.
- 03The airline required a recurring practical evaluation of ground safety every three years, which the driver had not completed for this role.
- 04The ramp was dry and well-illuminated at the time of the accident.
- 05The aircraft sustained minor damage to its radome.
- 06The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 (Serial Number 9867), was manufactured in 1979.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Operational Guidance Revision
Northwest Airlines issued new guidance in its ground operations manual requiring two employees for towbar connections: one driver and one person to provide hand signals and facilitate the hookup.
Equipment Modification
The airline replaced the accident tug with one featuring a protective cab enclosure and initiated a fleet-wide program to install protective barriers on all pushback tractors.
Location
ACCIDENT SITE · Coordinates taken from the ntsb final report.