Ramp workers fired after Alaska 737 collision
SEATTLE – Two workers on a Sea-Tac Airport ramp have been fired in the wake of an accident where an Alaska Airlines 737 struck another Alaska 737 during pushback from the gate.
The fired workers are employed by Menzies Aviation, which Alaska Airlines contracts to do such tasks as loading and unloading baggage and guiding planes into and out of airport gates
We now know that one of the planes was pulling out of gate D1 just after 7 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, when its wing hit the horizontal stabilizer on the tail of another Alaska jet. That other jet was parked at gate C9.
No one was injured, but the plane that was being pushed back had 139 passengers on board. It was bound for Dallas and all passengers were evacuated. They were placed on another plane to Dallas later that morning. The second plane was reportedly empty at the time.
Alaska Airline's investigation revealed that it was the tug driver that pushed the first plane too far back. The tug driver then needed to make a sharp turn to compensate, said Paul McElroy with Alaska Airlines, which is based in Seattle.
"The wing walker saw the aircraft coming close to the second aircraft and signaled the tug driver to stop," McElroy said. "Due to the sharp turn, however, the tug driver could not see the wing walker. When this visual contact is lost, proper procedure calls for the tug driver to stop immediately."
McElroy said all four Menzies employees involved in the incident were given drug and alcohol tests, as is standard procedure. However, he said the results of those tests will not be made public.
Reportedly the tug driver and the wing walker are the ones who have been fired.
All of the Menzies ramp workers are now receiving additional safety briefings, McElroy said. They're also getting "oversight" on aircraft pushback techniques to help prevent this incident from happening again.
During the impact the right winglet on the first plane was damaged. That winglet has been repaired, and the plane was put back into service the same day. The second plane sustained damage to its horizontal stabilizer. That stabilizer has just now been repaired, and the plane is expected to return to service Tuesday or Wednesday, McElroy said.
"We are grateful no one was injured in this incident," he said, "and we are taking immediate steps to help prevent a similar occurrence."
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