This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative: Between September 16 and October 20, 2016, Timișoara International Airport was in the process of restoring the markings on aircraft parking platform. A NOTAM stated that the existing platform markings were suspended, and the aircraft had to respect the dispatcher signals and / or follow the FOLLOW-ME car. On October 17, 2016 an An-26 cargo plane registered EW-259TG, landed on runway 11 at Timișoara Airport. After landing, according to instructions received from control tower, the aircraft followed the ʺLʺ taxiway and, at its intersection with the platform, was take-over by the FOLLOW-ME car, in order to be parked on the northern side of the platform. The aircraft followed the route indicated by the FOLLOW-ME car: ʺMʺ taxiway (platform midline), which was left by a right turn, the FOLLOW-ME car leading it to the north in order to perform the last two turns (both to the left) for positioning at the designed parking place, facing south. During the first left turn, the aircraft hit a parking platform lighting pole with the right wing, which was knocked down, then it continued taxiing, without noticing the dispatcher emergency stop signal. The aircraft stopped when it hit the second lighting pole, which was inclined.
Causes of the occurrence The probable cause of this serious incident is the crew failure to comply with the safety distance from obstacles during approach to the platform edge, having the entire attention concentrated to the FOLLOW-ME car, thus neglecting the supervision of right wing trajectory during the turn. Contributing factor is the dispatcher non-compliance to maintain an optimum distance between the FOLLOW-ME car and aircraft, who did not consider that, even if the crew was properly informed on the platform markings suspended situation through NOTAM, the crew landed on Timișoara International Airport for the first time, and the arrived aircraft was limited to a relatively small angle in performing turns and thus, he should have adapt the car speed in such way to be permanently at a distance that would have provided the crew a clear visibility of the route indicated to follow.