Serious incident Boeing 747-8F VQ-BWY, Tuesday 23 July 2024

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Date:	Tuesday 23 July 2024
Time:
Type:	Boeing 747-8F
Owner/operator:	Silk Way West Airlines
Registration:	VQ-BWY
MSN:	60120/1521
Year of manufacture:	2015
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants:
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	None
Category:	Serious incident
Location:	Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV/LLBG) - Israel
Phase:	Pushback / towing
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV/LLBG)
Destination airport:	Baku-Heydar Aliyev International Airport (GYD/UBBB)
Investigating agency:	AIAI
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Silk Way West Airlines flight 7L8119, a Boeing 747-8F, was parked at position N23 at Ben Gurion Airport. The flight crew was making final preparations for departure. The aircraft's Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) was inoperative, so the crew planned to start one engine at the parking position using external power (ground power) and an external air compressor (ASU), and then to push back to the engine start position to start the remaining engines. The ground crew requested to tow the aircraft slightly forward to remove the chocks from the rear wheels as preparation for starting the engine at the position. The ramp controller decided that to tow the aircraft, it was necessary to disconnect the external power. The power was disconnected, the tow truck connected and pulled the aircraft slightly forward. The chocks were released from the grip of the wheels, and were removed, the tow truck disconnected from the aircraft, and the external power was reconnected. At this point, due to a descending slope at the position, the aircraft began to roll backwards uncontrollably for about 70 meters, pulling out two air hoses and external power cables that were connected to it. The ground crew ran with the chocks and threw them under the front wheels, but the aircraft jumped over them and continued to roll backwards. The aircraft reached the lowest point in the area, and on an ascending slope, stopped and even began to roll slightly forward until it completely stopped not far from another DHL cargo aircraft parked behind it.

Accident investigation: