Mcdonnell Douglas DC-10-15 accident near Las Vegas, Nevada, December 23, 1996
On December 23, 1996 at about 2:00 am local time, a Mcdonnell Douglas DC-10-15, registered N151SY, was involved in an accident near Las Vegas, Nevada (Mccarran International airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 339 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the ramp agent's failure to maintain a good situational awareness of the push-back. A factor was the dark night lighting conditions and the general communication failure of the ground push-back crew.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 23, 1996 · about 2:00 am local time
- Place
- Las Vegas, Nevada · Mccarran International · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 339 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Mcdonnell Douglas DC-10-15 · all DC-10-15s on the register
- Registration
- N151SY · registry record · serial 48295
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The ramp agent was functioning as the 'talker' during the push back operation and his headset was plugged into the aircraft at the nose wheel well. The agent realized he had forgotten his lighted hand wands and moved to the wheel well to unplug his headset from the aircraft just as the tug driver started pushing the aircraft back from the gate. The injured agent's foot and ankle were run over and crushed by one of the nose wheel tires.
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, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 16,800 hours in all; 2,862 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 32,178 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, December 22, 1996; 5 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 455,000 lb
- Seats: 0
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Ge CF6-50 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Sun Country Airlines, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: LAS
- Destination: DET Detroit MI
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 210° at 15 knots, gusting 24
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 54°F (12°C), dew point 37°F (3°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 2:56 am from LAS
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 12 | |||
| Passengers | 327 |
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.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number LAX97LA073.