Description

On 25 June 2007, a Boeing 747-200F being operated by Cathay Pacific on a scheduled cargo flight from Stockholm to Dubai had completed push back for departure in normal daylight visibility and the parking brakes had been set. The tow vehicle crew had disconnected the tow bar but before they and their vehicle had cleared the vicinity of the aircraft, it began to taxi and collided with the vehicle. The flight crew were unaware of this and continued taxiing for about 150 metres until the flight engineer noticed that the indications from one if the engines were abnormal and the aircraft was taxied back to the gate. The tow vehicle crew and the dispatcher had been able to run clear and were not injured physically injured although all three were identified as suffering minor injury (shock). The aircraft was “substantially damaged” and the tow vehicle was “damaged”.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the Swedish Accident Investigation Board. It established that the aircraft, with the First Officer as PF and in full control, had begun to taxi in a right hand turn before an ‘all-clear’ signal had been given by the supervising dispatcher to indicate that the ground crew and their vehicle were clear. It was noted that, at the time the taxi was commenced, the disconnected tow vehicle was not yet far enough away from the aircraft for it to be readily visible from the flight deck. The diagram below taken from the official report shows the tow vehicle as it was positioned in yellow and the approximate area ahead of the aircraft which would have been invisible to the occupants of the flight deck in their normal positions in red – the forward end of this red triangle was identified as being about 25 metres ahead of the nose landing gear.