Alaska, port investigate accident with jetway

Monday, July 10, 2006

Officials at Alaska Airlines and the Port of Seattle hope to know by today what caused a mishap that slightly damaged a plane and forced passengers to wait three hours for another flight.

The accident happened Saturday at Sea-Tac Airport when a jetway, which is a walkway that passengers use to board an aircraft, moved out of position and scraped the side of a plane, leaving a shallow crease in its aluminum skin, Alaska Airlines spokesman Paul McElroy said.

Passengers were boarding the MD-80 aircraft bound for Ontario, Calif., when it was damaged, McElroy said.

About 60 of the flight's 120 passengers were on board; no one was hurt. The plane was removed from service, and passengers had to wait about three hours for a replacement flight, McElroy said.

It happened about 6:30 a.m.

The accident likely had something to do with a device called an auto-leveler, which keeps the jetway even with the aircraft, which dips slightly as it takes on the weight of passengers, airport spokesman Bob Parker said.

"The question is, why didn't it move down with the airplane?" Parker said.

An airline customer service agent operates the equipment. Airport and airline officials are investigating whether the mishap was caused by operator error, which would fall under Alaska Airlines' authority, or equipment malfunction, which would be the airport's responsibility, Parker said.

Some of Alaska Airlines' ground operations drew scrutiny in December after an MD-80 bound for California was forced to land when the cabin lost pressure. Investigators discovered a footlong gash in the fuselage and later learned that a baggage handler had bumped the plane with equipment before takeoff without reporting the incident.

The employee worked for Menzies Aviation, a company that contracts with Alaska Airlines to perform baggage-handling operations.

Menzies was not involved with any of the operations involved in Saturday's incident, Parker said.

Ground accidents like Saturday's incident are common in the industry and cost airlines about $3 billion to $4 billion a year, Parker said.

P-I reporter Scott Gutierrez can be reached at 206-448-8334 or scottgutierrez@seattlepi.com.

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