Скачать или смотреть Near-Ground-Collision at BWI: FedEx Super Cargomaster Damaged During Emergency Braking

On February 24, 2015, at 0612 eastern standard time, a Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster, N989FX, owned and operated by FedEx Express, was substantially damaged when its empennage struck the ground while taxiing at Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI), Baltimore, Maryland. (Watch carefully. You can actually see this happen.)

The airline transport pilot was not injured. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed for the flight, which originated from Newark Liberty International (EWR), Newark, New Jersey. The on-demand cargo flight was conducted under the provisions Part 135.

Following an uneventful flight, the pilot landed the airplane on runway 33R, before exiting to the left onto taxiway J. He then continued to taxi to the southwest and transitioned onto taxiway AA. As the airplane approached the intersection of the taxiway and a service road, a Southwest Airlines ground service vehicle approached from the airplane's right. The pilot applied the airplane's brakes and full reverse thrust, and the airplane came to a stop. The ground service vehicle passed in front of the airplane at an estimated distance of between 2 and 3 feet, and the vehicle and the airplane did not collide.

The pilot stated that the "hard" braking and reverse thrust application caused the nose landing gear strut to compress, resulting in a "spring effect that was multiplied by removing reverse thrust rapidly." The airplane then pitched up and the empennage struck the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane's systems.

The operator of the ground service vehicle stated that he was proceeding to the security gate and was reaching down to grab an airport badge. The operator noticed the airplane when he looked up and immediately "slammed" on the brakes. The vehicle eventually came to a stop after crossing the taxiway.

Code of Maryland Regulations 11.03.01.04 K(1) titled "Yielding the Right-of-Way" states "Any person operating a motor vehicle on the air operations area shall yield the right-of-way to aircraft in motion or aircraft with engines running, ready to be put in motion."

This incident occurred at an pre-identified mapped "hot spot" at BWI.