New York, NY, USA
EI-EJL
AIRBUS A330
F-GSPQ
BOEING 777
The flight crew of F-GSPQ, an Air France B777-200ER, operating as Air France flight 008, had stopped with the parking brake set while waiting for the gate personnel to finish preparing gate 9 to receive their flight at Terminal 1, at John F. Kennedy International Airport (KJFK), when their airplane was struck by an ITA Airways A330-202 that was taxiing past. The Boeing 777 airplane received substantial damage to the right-hand elevator. The Airbus airplane only received scratches on the left winglet. The Air France crew said that their company procedure to enter gate 9 is to stop and wait for a tow. There were no ground marshalling crew present when they arrived, so they stopped, shut down the engines, and waited about 10 to 15 minutes for a tow to arrive. About the time the tug arrived, the crew said they felt the airplane move due to a “hard connection”, but they were unaware of an airplane passing behind at that time. After the airplane was parked at the gate and passengers had disembarked, maintenance informed the flight crew of damage to the elevator, and it was determined to be from the ITA Airways A330 that had passed behind. The Air France flight crew said they tried to contact the Air Traffic Control Tower to stop the ITA Airways flight, but the conversation was lengthy, and the ITA Airways flight 611 took off without receiving timely notification of the collision. The ITA Airways crew said they noted an Air France Boeing 777 entering at gate 9, a safe distance away, where it stopped awaiting a tow to parking. The ITA Airways crew further stated that after engine start, they were cleared to taxi via Taxiway N, Taxiway B, Taxiway G, cross runway 22L, and via taxiway Z to join the queue for takeoff on runway 31L. They said that during the taxi at no time was there any indication that they had impacted an airplane. After takeoff, while climbing out at 3,000 feet, the ITA Airways crew received a radio call from JFK Tower asking if they had impacted an airplane, and if they had any damage. The crew said they then conducted visual, and systems checks, and checked with the cabin crew. No abnormalities were observed. Upon reaching FL300 the ITA Airways flight crew said they received a second radio call from Air Traffic Control. After contacting their company, and having ruled out any problems with the airplane, a decision was made for the ITA Airways flight to continue to Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport (FCO). After an uneventful flight and landing, an inspection revealed a longitudinal abrasion throughout its length on the upper part of the left winglet consistent with the winglet contacting an object.
The ITA Airways flightcrew’s misperception of the distance to maintain separation and safely pass the stopped Air France airplane.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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