Boeing 737-700 N254WN incident near Salt Lake City, Utah

Probable cause

The tug driver's failure to maintain situational awareness during the push back operation.

NTSB analysis

During a push back from a jetway, the airplane's winglet collided with the winglet of an unoccupied airplane parked at the adjacent gate. Prior to the push back, the wheels of the tug were not aligned straight ahead, but were instead turned partially to one side. Therefore as the push back was initiated, the nose of the airplane moved toward the jetway instead of going straight back. At that point, instead of terminating the push back and realigning the tug, the tug driver attempted to maneuver the tug in a manner that would result in the nose of the airplane clearing the jetway. During this attempt, the tug driver's attention became focused upon the jetway, and he therefore did not see or hear the visual and oral warning signals being given by the wing-walker.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR09IA033 for the full record.