On February 13 at 10:20am at Buenos Aires - Aeroparque, the left winglet of a GOL Linhas Aereas 737-800 inbound from Sao Paulo (GRU) collided with the tailcone and Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) of LAN Argentina A320, registration LV-BGI, as the Brazilian aircraft was taxiing in to the Gate #2 hardstand and the LAN aircraft was pushing back from its hardstand for departure.
The LAN A320 was about to depart operating flight LA4022 to Puerto Iguazu in northern Argentina where the famous falls are located when the incident happened. Its APU and tailcone were visibly dented leading to the aircraft being moved to a hangar for inspection to determine the extent of the damage and needed repairs.
Interestingly, though the damage was substantial, passengers on the LAN aircraft did not feel the impact and were not even aware of the collision until told about it. The stranded passengers were accommodated on an afternoon flight to Iguazu.
The GOL 737-800 was also removed from service. Passengers from both aircraft were deplaned without incident and nobody was injured.
The Civil Aviation Accident Division of the Argentine National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC are its initials in Spanish) will investigate the incident.
While preliminary speculation was that the GOL pilot "miscalculated", the editor of this blog would put the responsibility on the shoulders of the individuals and wing walkers marshalling the two aircraft, that is if such personnel were in place, which they are supposed to be.
The incident has brought attention to the overcrowded conditions of AEP's ramp area, especially since regional flights to neighboring countries were authorized in March 2010 leading to a 30% increase in the number of commercial movements at Aeroparque.
This link has two photos of the incident:
http://www.clarin.com/sociedad/Polemica-choque-aviones-Aeroparque_0_646135447.html
Source: www.clarin.com
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