NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CHI90FA075
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE TUG OPERATOR'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE TUG, POSSIBLY DUE TO HAVING INADVERTENTLY PLACED OR CAUGHT HIS BUILT-UP, STEEL-TOE BOOT UNDER THE BRAKE PEDAL.
Factual narrative
THE BOEING 727 WAS CHOCKED AWAITING A TUG. A MECHANIC/RAMP EMPLOYEE BROUGHT A TUG AND TOW BAR TO THE AIRCRAFT. AFTER APPROACHING THE AIRCRAFT, HE STOPPED THE TUG, DISCONNECTED THE TOW BAR FROM THE TUG AND CONNECTED IT TO THE NOSE GEAR OF THE AIRCRAFT. HE RE-BOARDED THE TUG TO BRING IT CLOSER TO THE TOW BAR FOR ATTACHMENT. RATHER THAN STOPPING, THE TUG CONTINUED FORWARD AND CONTACTED THE BAR, WHICH SLID OFF THE FACE OF THE TUG. THE TUG CONTINUED FORWARD AND CONTACT WAS MADE WITH THE UNDERSIDE OF THE AIRCRAFT'S NOSE, CRUSHING THE EMPLOYEE BETWEEN THE TUG AND THE AIRPLANE. THE TUG DRIVER WAS WEARING A BUILT-UP SHOE ON HIS RIGHT FOOT. TESTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE ACCIDENT REVEALED THAT WITH THE SHOE PLACED UNDER THE BRAKE PEDAL OF THE TUG, BRAKING ACTION OF THE TUG WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO STOP THE VEHICLE. SCUFF MARKS AND SIGNS OF SCRAPING WERE NOTED ON THE TOE OF THE BOOT, THOUGH THE SOURCE OF THE SCRAPE/SCUFF MARKS WAS NOT VERIFIED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_CHI90FA075.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 1993 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Cost Analysis: Re-Engining a Boeing 727-200 (Advanced) Versus Buying a New Boeing 757-200
The Boeing 727-200 and 757-200 are both narrowbody aircraft designed for short- to medium-range flights carrying 164 to 214 passengers.
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Data in Brief)
Cockpit voice recorder transcript data: Capturing safety voice and safety listening during historic aviation accidents
Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcripts capture audio data within cockpit environments. This aids the investigation of causal factors contributing to aviation accidents by revealing communication and…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Avoiding a maneuvering aircraft with TCAS
The present investigation was carried out in NASA's Man-Vehicle Systems Research Facility B 727 simulator because of the need for veridical aircraft response.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Aircraft performance in a JAWS microburst
Attention is given to the detailed features of a servere microburst event, the flight behavior of a 727 airliner in such an event as predicted by a numerical simulation, and several low level wind she…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Flight simulator platform motion and air transport pilot training
The effect of a flight simulator platform motion on the performance and training of a pilot was evaluated using subjective ratings and objective performance data obtained on experienced B-727 pilots a…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Description and flight performance of two systems for two-segment approach
This paper describes two different avionic systems which were designed and developed to provide guidance and control for two-segment noise abatement approaches.
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