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| Date: | Saturday 4 August 2001 |
| Time: | 17:00 |
| Type: |  Airbus A320-211 |
| Owner/operator: | Air France |
| Registration: | F-GLGG |
| MSN: | 203 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1991 |
| Engine model: | CFMI CFM56-5A1 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 163 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Category: | Incident |
| Location: | London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Pushback / towing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft was being pushed back from Stand F11 at London Heathrow Airport. The pushback tug was of an old design with a relatively high roof to the driver's cabin and a sliding cabin door orientated across the longitudinal axis of the tug. The tug was being driven with the driver's cabin door in the open position, which effectively increased the width of the tug cabin.
During the pushback an acute angle developed between the tug and the aircraft's longitudinal axis to the extent that the top corner of the open tug door lay vertically beneath the aircraft nose. As the aircraft traversed a concrete joint in the apron the nose dipped and the top corner of the tug's cabin door contacted the aircraft nose causing a small dent and 10 cm of scoring to the nose-cone skin.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422fc34ed915d137100089f/dft_avsafety_pdf_500511.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/90088 (Photo)
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Apr-2025 08:17 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 02-Apr-2025 08:18 | ASN | Updated [Narrative, Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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