Airbus Industrie A-320-231 accident near Phoenix, Arizona, October 15, 1999
On October 15, 1999 at about 4:18 pm local time, a Airbus Industrie A-320-231, registered N627AW, was substantially damaged in an accident near Phoenix, Arizona (Phoenix Sky Harbor Int'L airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 94 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The airline's failure to fully review the obstruction clearances and revise the pushback procedures in an area of the ramp where new construction had impinged on the available ramp space. Also causal was the failure of the tug driver and the wing walkers to maintain adequate communications during the pushback. A factor in the accident was the failure of the airline to follow its own internal decision processes when implementing the procedural change on this ramp.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 15, 1999 · about 4:18 pm local time
- Place
- Phoenix, Arizona · Phoenix Sky Harbor Int'L · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 94 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Airbus Industrie A-320-231 A320-231 · all A-320-231s on the register
- Registration
- N627AW · no longer on the register · serial 066
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
On pushback from the gate, the tug driver was positioning the nose wheel on a painted stop mark on the ramp known as the 'T' when the tail struck a walkway between concourses. Company procedures require each tug driver to put the nose wheel on the 'T' during pushback. This procedure had been previously discontinued at this gate due to the construction of the pedestrian walkway that did not allow sufficient clearance. On the morning of the accident, the ramp coordinator advised the ramp 1 supervisor that pushbacks to the 'T' at this gate would resume that morning. The ramp 1 supervisor asked for confirmation due to concerns over adequate clearance, and the instruction was reconfirmed that all gates on ramp 1 would push to the 'T.' No coordination was made with the ground operations safety supervisor. During the accident sequence, ramp control cleared the flight to push to the 'T' and the captain relayed the clearance to the tug driver. The wing walkers were properly positioned. When the aircraft was about 20 feet from the walkway, the right wing walker saw the impending collision and signaled the tug driver to stop. The tug driver said he was focused on correctly positioning the nose wheel on the 'T' and did not see the signal in time to stop the aircraft. About 10 feet before reaching the 'T,' the aircraft's right horizontal stabilizer struck the pedestrian walkway. There is no voice communication capability between the crew chief at the gate, the tug driver, and the wing walkers. The completed walkway had reduced the amount of ramp space available during pushback to substantially less than the length of the airplanes operated by the airline. The 'T' had not been repositioned. The original decision to resume the pushback originated with the ACS project manager but should have been coordinated with the ground operations safety supervisor prior to any operational changes being implemented.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 18,300 hours in all; 4,200 in this make and model; 178 in the last 90 days; 48 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 32,206 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, September 23, 1999; 199 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 164,569 lb
- Seats: 156
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Int'L Aero En V2500-A1 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: America West Airlines, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: PHX at 4:17 pm
- Destination: TUC Tucson AZ
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 100° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 75°F (24°C), dew point 34°F (1°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:17 pm from PHX
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 5 | |||
| Passengers | 89 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.