NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA10CA075
Registry · N3730B
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
BOEING 737-832
Year of manufacture
2000 · 10 years old at event
Engine
CFM INTL. CFM56 SERIES (2200 hp)
Seats / Engines
189 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date
20000921
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A4414A
Registrant of record
DELTA AIR LINES INC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
a baggage cart impacting the airplane and causing substantial damage as a result of the jet blast from a passing airplane.
Factual narrative
According to a company flight safety investigator, the aircraft was parked at the gate while the first officer and four flight attendants were aboard preparing for the upcoming flight. Baggage handlers on the ramp were loading baggage onto the aircraft when the jet blast from a taxing Boeing 767-400ER blew an empty baggage cart from its parked position, which collided with the left side of the aft service panel, causing a 15 by 18 in puncture through the aircraft skin and severing two stringers. According to the baggage handler, after he had staged the empty baggage cart into location among two other carts, he "made sure that it was locked" by giving the cart a "push" from the left side. He stated that the cart did not "budge" after he pushed it. A video of the accident showed the cart being blown from the jet blast as it travelled across the ramp and impacted the left side of the aircraft. The other two baggage carts remained unmoved. According to a company flight safety investigator, the aircraft was parked at the gate while the first officer and four flight attendants were aboard preparing for the upcoming flight. Baggage handlers on the ramp were loading baggage onto the aircraft when the jet blast from a taxing Boeing 767-400ER blew an empty baggage cart from its parked position, which collided with the left side of the aft service panel, causing a 15 by 18 in puncture through the aircraft skin and severing two stringers.According to the baggage handler, after he had staged the empty baggage cart into location among two other carts, he "made sure that it was locked" by giving the cart a "push" from the left side. He stated that the cart did not "budge" after he pushed it. A video of the accident showed the cart being blown from the jet blast as it travelled across the ramp and impacted the left side of the aircraft. The other two baggage carts remained unmoved. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Ground crew
- C Environmental issues-Operating environment-Airport facilities/design-(general)-Effect on equipment - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2010_DCA10CA075.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.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM)
A preliminary study of a wake vortex encounter hazard boundary for a B737-100 airplane
A preliminary batch simulation study was conducted to define the wake decay required for a Boeing 737-100 airplane to safely encounter a Boeing 727 wake and land.
- NASA NTRS 2018 · Other
A Numerical Simulation Study to Develop an Acceptable Wake Encounter Boundary for a B737-100 Airplane
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is conducting research with the goal of enabling safe improvements in the capacity of the nation's air transportation system.
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper
A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Radar detection of wake vortex behind the aircraft: the detection range problem
In this study, we showcased the detection of the wake vortex produced by a medium aircraft at distances exceeding 10 km using an X-band pulse-Doppler radar.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2023 · Conference paper
Airline Pilot Risk Profiling by Using Unstable Approach Management Case
Risk and human decision-making cannot be separated from each other. Many of theories and studies have tried to analyze pilots’ decision-making processes, risk factors, and preference behavior in the a…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2023 · Journal article (IJAAA)
Historical Research and the case for a Fifth Component of SMS
Abstract Three tragic events from aviation history were examined using a Historical Research and Case Study Method. The events explored were the disasters of the Airship R101 (1930), the Space Shuttle…
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