N494HA

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn November 30, 2023, about 0614 Hawaii standard time (HST), a Boeing 717-200, N494HA, operated by Hawaiian Airlines as flight 105, sustained minor damage when it was involved in an incident while taxiing for departure at Kahului Airport (OGG), Maui, Hawaii. The 119 passengers and crew onboard were uninjured. One ramp worker sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 scheduled domestic passenger flight from OGG to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Honolulu, Hawaii.

The airplane was being pushed back from the gate before departure by three ground crew personnel, which included a tow tractor (tug) operator assisted by two wing walkers. One of the wing walkers was designated as an “escort,” whose responsibilities included disconnecting the tow bar from the airplane.

The flight crew reported that they discussed the weather as the passengers boarded, describing it as “dicey” the morning of the incident, with low cloud ceilings and visibility, rain, and thunderstorms moving through the area. It was dark at the time, and the airplane’s windshield wipers were on.

Both flight crewmembers recalled receiving the load closeout via ACARS (aircraft communication addressing and reporting system) during the pushback. Also during the pushback, the captain performed a manual start of the number one (left) engine, after which he set the brakes and instructed the ground crew to disconnect the tow bar. While the first officer (FO) completed entering the relevant data from the load closeout and air traffic control clearance into the flight management system (FMS), the captain started the number two (right) engine and cleared the ground crew to disconnect, which allowed the escort to disconnect the tow tractor operator’s headset cable from the airplane and to remove the nose landing gear steering bypass pin.

The tow tractor operator recalled that the escort removed the steering bypass pin, disconnected the headset interphone cable from the airplane, then stood near the passenger side of the tow tractor and displayed the pin for about two minutes. The escort reported that captains normally saluted him after he displayed the steering bypass pin, but he could not see the captain salute him on this occasion. He could see the captain moving around the cockpit and it appeared to him that the captain was performing instrument checks.

The captain stated in a post incident interview that he saw one of the ramp agents display the pin and its ribbon overhead with both hands, and estimated that the tow tractor was seven or eight feet from the side of the airplane, with the escort standing on the far side of the tow tractor. He recalled that it was difficult to see outside due to the rain and the darkness. The FO stated that from his vantage point, the tow tractor was obscured by aircraft structure.

The captain reported that, in practice, the escort would normally display the pin, the flight crew would salute, and the escort would salute in return. When asked whether he flashed the airplane’s taxi light during this exchange, he stated that they normally flashed the taxi light, but he did not during the incident pushback. He added that he was “saturated” in assisting the FO with “the numbers and the clearance.”

The escort informed the tow tractor operator that he had not received a salute from the captain. The tow tractor operator recalled that she honked the horn to attempt to get the captain’s attention, then waved at the cockpit, but was unable to elicit a response.

The tow tractor operator recalled that, upon seeing the cockpit light turn off, she realized that the airplane was about to taxi and informed the escort that they needed to leave the area. The escort began to run away from the airplane toward the gate, and the tow tractor operator put the tractor in gear and began to drive away from the airplane.

The flight crew completed the after-start checklist and received a taxi clearance from the tower controller. The crew began the taxi; however, the left main landing gear impacted the tow bar and the left wing impacted the tow tractor cab, resulting in the cab collapsing. Airport fire and rescue responded to the scene and extricated the driver, who was transported to the local hospital for treatment.

Airport surveillance video captured the incident sequence and indicated that the two wing walkers were in position on either side of the airplane, each holding lighted wands, when the tow tractor operator began pushback. About 25 seconds into the pushback, which lasted a total of 1 minute and 15 seconds, the wing walker on the airplane’s left side began walking toward a ground service vehicle near the gate, placed his wands in the driver’s seat area, then walked back toward the airplane. About 35 seconds into the video, the wing walker on the airplane’s right side approached the driver’s side area of another ground service vehicle. His wands also disappeared, and he began walking back toward the gate, out of view.

After pushback and disconnect of the towbar, the white rear-facing lights illuminated on the tractor as the operator backed up. These lights then extinguished, and the operator drove the tractor forward toward the captain’s side of the airplane’s nose. The operator stopped the tow tractor, and the escort secured the towbar to the rear of the tow tractor. The tow tractor operator then drove forward and parked the tractor on the captain’s side of the airplane’s nose. Subsequently the video showed that the tractor’s headlights came back on after the tug came to a stop. The tow tractor’s headlights appeared to illuminate an area of pavement located behind the cockpit alongside the airplane’s left fuselage. The escort approached the passenger’s side door of the tractor (where they normally placed the headset cable after disconnecting it from the airplane) and remained standing near the passenger side of the tractor for about 1 minute 37 seconds. No lighted wands were visible.

At 0614:28 (per the surveillance video), the airplane’s taxi light illuminated, and immediately afterward the airplane began to move forward. Two seconds later, the escort could be seen running away from the airplane toward the gate. The tow tractor began to move forward toward the approaching left wing of the airplane. About nine seconds later, the airplane’s left wing impacted the tow tractor. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONCaptain

The captain, age 29, held an airline transport pilot certificate with a multi-engine land rating, commercial pilot privileges for airplane single-engine land, and type ratings on the B-757, B-767, and DC-9. He held an FAA first-class medical certificate dated March 8, 2023, with the limitation, “Must use corrective lens(es) to meet vision standards at all required distances.” The captain stated that he was wearing corrective lenses at the time of the incident.

The captain was hired by Hawaiian Airlines on June 1, 2022, and had accumulated about 3,300 hours total flight time, about 1,200 hours of which were in the B-717.

First Officer

The FO, age 35, held an airline transport pilot certificate with a multi-engine land rating, commercial pilot privileges for airplane single-engine land, and type ratings on the CL-65 and DC-9. He held an FAA first-class medical certificate dated November 3, 2022, with no limitations.

The FO was hired by Hawaiian Airlines on April 18, 2023, and had accumulated about 2,000 hours total flight experience, about 233 hours of which were in the B-717. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONAccording to the dispatch release for the incident flight, the airplane had two minimum equipment list (MEL) items. The MEL items were M33-41-01E “wing landing light extend/retract system light retracted” issued November 29, 2023, at 2231 HST, and M80-11-03, “auto starter control system” issued November 29, 2023, at 0751 HST.

The wing landing light had been secured by maintenance and the MEL required no flight crew action. The No. 1 engine MEL item required the flight crew to perform a manual start on the No. 1 engine. The captain reported in a postincident interview that he reviewed the manual start procedure in the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) and Flight Crew Operating Manual (FCOM). The expanded checklist for a manual engine start procedure in the FCOM specified that, because auto abort protection was not available during a manual start, the crew was required to monitor engine parameters for start exceedances and abort the start in the event of an exceedance. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATIONOn the day of the incident, dawn was at 0621:31 and official sunrise was at 0645:06. The sun was 7.73° below the horizon at the time of the incident, and the captain reported that it was dark and raining. AIRPORT INFORMATIONAccording to the dispatch release for the incident flight, the airplane had two minimum equipment list (MEL) items. The MEL items were M33-41-01E “wing landing light extend/retract system light retracted” issued November 29, 2023, at 2231 HST, and M80-11-03, “auto starter control system” issued November 29, 2023, at 0751 HST.

The wing landing light had been secured by maintenance and the MEL required no flight crew action. The No. 1 engine MEL item required the flight crew to perform a manual start on the No. 1 engine. The captain reported in a postincident interview that he reviewed the manual start procedure in the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) and Flight Crew Operating Manual (FCOM). The expanded checklist for a manual engine start procedure in the FCOM specified that, because auto abort protection was not available during a manual start, the crew was required to monitor engine parameters for start exceedances and abort the start in the event of an exceedance. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATIONA postincident examination of the airplane revealed minor damage to the left wing. ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONTow Tractor

The tow tractor was a TMX-350 manufactured by...