ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 149247
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| Date: | Monday 26 December 2005 |
| Time: | 16:35 |
| Type: |  McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (DC-9-83) |
| Owner/operator: | Alaska Airlines |
| Registration: | N979AS |
| MSN: | 53471/2139 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 33530 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 142 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Near Seattle, WA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Seattle/Tacoma International Airport, WA (SEA/KSEA) |
| Burbank, CA (BUR) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The captain said that the airplane arrived late into Seattle, from its previous flight, and the new flight crew was waiting at the gate. After the airplane was chocked and the engines were shut down, the first officer immediately performed his preflight inspection. A ground baggage handler, who was driving a tug towing a train of baggage carts, said that he approached the airplane from aft to forward, but had to maneuver around another train of carts to get close to the belt loader. After loading the carts with baggage, he attempted to drive away. He stated, "I was hoping to make it out, but I felt my tug going against something. I immediately set my foot on the brakes and glanced at the body [in moderate rain] of the aircraft to see if there was any damage. It was a quick glance and I did not see any damage." He did not report the incident to anyone. The pilot said that the takeoff was normal. During the climb out, at approximately 26,000 feet, they heard a loud bang, and the cabin depressurized. He said that they put their oxygen masks on, and coordinated a descent to a lower altitude with Seattle Center. An uneventful landing was performed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington. Post landing examination of the fuselage revealed a 12 by 6 inch hole between the middle and forward cargo doors on the right side of the airplane. After the occurrence, the ground baggage handler confessed that he had "grazed the airplane" with a tug, while attempting to depart the vicinity of the airplane.
Probable Cause: The ground personnel baggage handler failed to maintain clearance from the aircraft with cargo handling equipment during ground operations and inadvertently damaged the airplane's pressure bulkhead which subsequently decompressed during climb to cruise.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20051229X02026&key=1
Location
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Sep-2012 07:47 | ryan | Added |
| 09-Apr-2014 08:46 | Katonk2014 | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 26-Aug-2015 14:53 | Anon. | Updated [Source] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 06-Dec-2017 11:36 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Cn, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Apr-2020 15:07 | Anon. | Updated [Embed code] |
| 25-Apr-2022 05:42 | alaska818 | Updated [[Embed code]] |
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