NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA20CA049
Registry · N929NN
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
BOEING 737-823
Year of manufacture
2013 · 7 years old at event
Engine
CFM INTL CFM56-7B24E
Seats / Engines
162 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date
20130607
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S ACE0D2
Registrant of record
BANK OF UTAH TRUSTEE
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
failure of the deicing truck driver to maintain appropriate clearance from the airplane.
Factual narrative
On January 8, 2020, about 0630 eastern standard time, American Airlines flight 2632, a Boeing 737-823, N929NN, was damaged by a deicing truck. There were no injuries to the 2 pilots, 4 flight attendants, or 115 passengers on board. The airplane received substantial damage. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from LaGuardia Airport, New York, New York, to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas, Texas. The captain stated that while sitting at gate C7 performing preflight duties he felt the aircraft "shudder". He stated that the first officer then looked out the window on his side and noticed a deicing truck behind the right wing. As he continued observing the first officer said they felt the airplane shudder again as the deicing truck pulled out from under the wing. On January 8, 2020, about 0630 eastern standard time, American Airlines flight 2632, a Boeing 737-823, N929NN, was damaged by a deicing truck. There were no injuries to the 2 pilots, 4 flight attendants, or 115 passengers on board. The airplane received substantial damage. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from LaGuardia Airport, New York, New York, to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas, Texas. The captain stated that while sitting at gate C7 performing preflight duties he felt the aircraft "shudder". He stated that the first officer then looked out the window on his side and noticed a deicing truck behind the right wing. As he continued observing the first officer said they felt the airplane shudder again as the deicing truck pulled out from under the wing. 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).
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Ground crew - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2020_DCA20CA049.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 or causal vocabulary (icing). 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 2026 · Contractor Report (CR)
Icing Physics Studies Using the 3D SIDRM Test Article: 2023 Icing Tests Analysis
In-flight icing is an important safety issue and is a factor that affects aircraft design and performance. Newer regulations are driving a need for improvements in airframe and engine icing simulation…
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning for UAV-Assisted 5G Network Slicing: A Comparative Study of MAPPO, MADDPG, and MADQN
The growing demand for robust, scalable wireless networks in the 5G-and-beyond era has led to the deployment of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as mobile base stations to enhance coverage in dense urb…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Mathematical Model on the Temporal Dynamics of Aviation Competitive Pricing
This study investigates the competitive dynamics of airport pricing using U.S. airport data to validate the findings. It employs linear and nonlinear ordinary differential equation models to analyze t…
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Presentation
NASA Icing Update – March 2025
This NASA Icing Update was prepared for presentation to the SAE International AC-9C Inflight Icing Technology Committee. This update includes the following topics: planned Rotational Icing Scaling tes…
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗