NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA19CA186
Registry · N57852
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
BOEING 757-324
Year of manufacture
2001 · 18 years old at event
Engine
ROLLS-ROYC RB-211 SERIES
Seats / Engines
275 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date
20011221
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A76F43
Registrant of record
UNITED AIRLINES INC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
failure of the ground crew to maintain clearance from the parked airplane during pushback.
Factual narrative
On July 23, 2019, about 0048, Pacific daylight time, United Airlines flight 1161, N57852, a Boeing 757-324, received substantial damage during pushback. There were no injuries to the crew or passengers on board. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from San Francisco International Airport (SFO), to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Chicago, Illinois. According to the flight crew, while their airplane was being pushed back from gate 62 at SFO, it impacted a parked airplane, causing damage to their airplane’s right stabilizer and right elevator. On July 23, 2019, about 0048, pacific daylight time, United Airlines flight 1161, N57852, a Boeing 757-324, received substantial damage during pushback. There were no injuries to the passengers or crew onboard. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from San Francisco International Airport (SFO), to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Chicago, Illinois. According to the flight crew the airplane was at gate 62 at SFO and after the door was closed and Pre-flight and Before-pushback checklists were completed, the flight crew then received clearance to push back. According to the ground crew, the pushback operation was conducted with a tug driver and a wing walker at each wing. After pushback was initiated, another airplane was towed behind the accident airplane. The tug driver stated he saw the other airplane and stopped but lost sight of the wing walker. After he thought the other airplane was clear, he started to move the airplane again, but then was signaled by the other airplanes ground crew to stop and that he had hit their airplane. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the right-hand elevator outboard section had broken at the second attach fitting. Also, the right-hand horizontal stabilizer had a puncture, end cap damage and other damage to the lower skin extending about 24 to 30 inches from the outboard end. 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).
- F Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action performance-Ground crew
- — Aircraft-Aircraft handling/service-Towing and taxiing-Towing-Incorrect use/operation
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2019_DCA19CA186.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.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract
Mode Transitions in Glass Cockpit Aircraft: Results of a Field Study
One consequence of increased levels of automation in complex control systems is the presence of modes. A mode is a particular configuration of a control system that defines how human command inputs ar…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Pathway Concepts Experiment for Head-Down Synthetic Vision Displays
Eight 757 commercial airline captains flew 22 approaches using the Reno Sparks 16R Visual Arrival under simulated Category I conditions.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Convectively Induced Turbulence Encountered During NASA's Fall-2000 Flight Experiments
Aircraft encounters with atmospheric turbulence are a leading cause of in-flight injuries aboard commercial airliners and cost the airlines millions of dollars each year.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Other
Human-Centered Design of Human-Computer-Human Dialogs in Aerospace Systems
A series of ongoing research programs at Georgia Tech established a need for a simulation support tool for aircraft computer-based aids.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
Human factors of advanced technology (glass cockpit) transport aircraft
A three-year study of airline crews at two U.S. airlines who were flying an advanced technology aircraft, the Boeing 757 is discussed.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗