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DCA20CA049

2020-01-08 · New York, New York, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport KLGA

Current FAA registration · N929NN

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

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

FAA avdata. C = Cause, 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

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing). All research papers