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Picture of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 aircraft

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Aircraft Taken at
More: Northwest Airlines
More: McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31
More: Minneapolis / St. Paul - International / Wold-Chamberlain Field (MSP / KMSP)
More: USA - Minnesota, February 5, 2007
Remark Photographer
N1308T / 9943 (cn 47315/433) Oops. DC-9 vs. Pushback Tug.
More: Preston Theler
Contact Preston Theler
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Distinct views: 345,957
Photo added: February 6, 2007
Average views per day: 179

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Visitor comments (40)   [Hide]Post your own comments by rating the photo above!
A visitor from - posted Wed January 11, 2012:
Those guys look like they are trying to fix everything before anyone notices.

A visitor from United States posted Mon November 15, 2010:
Hmmm, DC9 appears to be trying out body slams on poor tug....

A visitor from United States posted Wed October 6, 2010:
Look Ma', No hands!

A visitor from - posted Wed January 13, 2010:
Poor DC-9. i wonder if this aircraft will be written off

A visitor from United States posted Fri June 5, 2009:
Scabs hard at work doing a steering gear check

A visitor from Switzerland posted Wed April 29, 2009:
Great shot

A visitor from Turkey posted Thu April 2, 2009:
Oh my god :)

A visitor from Singapore posted Sat February 14, 2009:
Do not speed in the tarmac =)

A visitor from United Kingdom posted Fri August 8, 2008:
She rotated too early! :)

A visitor from United States posted Tue July 22, 2008:
It is interesting and scary to see what happens sometimes with tugs and know this could happen to you

A visitor from United States posted Fri July 18, 2008:
Ladies and Gentlemen we will be experiencing some slight turbulence in a couple of minutes...

A visitor from France posted Mon April 16, 2007:
Obviously the tug driver did a big mistake, but it must've been quite a scary moment for him to get an aircraft right upon his head. Hope there was no human injury.

A visitor from United States posted Mon March 19, 2007:
Able to see in great detail what happened.

A visitor from United States posted Sun February 18, 2007:
What amazed me about this shot was that I didn't even notice the damage to the plane right away. My eye saw the men changing the tire first and then WHOA!!! Great shot!!

A visitor from United States posted Tue February 13, 2007:
I was speaking with an electrical engineer from NW the day after this happened. He indicated that the driver of the tug came out without any major injuries (although he was likely to lose his job). He said they were still trying to figure out exactly what happened. He told me that the plane was scheduled to be retired within 6 weeks and it is totalled, but only worth ~200k. The super tug is totalled as well, but is worth a whopping 800k!

A visitor from United States posted Sat February 10, 2007:
This plan was being towed by mechanics from hangar to terminal. I believe the tractor driver recieved minor injuries.
Photo captures it all.

A visitor from United States posted Thu February 8, 2007:
I fly for NWA...Northwest...whatever management wants to call the ops, this "super tug" was paid for by employee pay cuts...this is direct correlation with on the job training and low wage labor. I appreciate taking a DC9 out of service!

A visitor from United States posted Thu February 8, 2007:
The story was while doing a maintance tow the tow driver stopped to quick and locked the tires on slick pavement, causing the aircraft to push him in a quick fish tail, snapping the towbar and slidding the tow under the aircraft, bouncing the aircraft 10ft and then pining the tow under its current location.

A visitor from United States posted Thu February 8, 2007:
5* because i was their to witness this scene 1st hand....what a mess

A visitor from United Kingdom posted Wed February 7, 2007:
Great pose,is someone trying to get rid of nwa DC9's

A visitor from Philippines posted Wed February 7, 2007:
Sucks for both the pilots and the driver..

A visitor from United States posted Wed February 7, 2007:
You are supposed to use the nose gear to push back, not the main gear.

A visitor from United States posted Wed February 7, 2007:
I guess he didn't turn the wheels in the direction of the skid! The tug didn't hit the plane on the left because it didn't drive under it. It spun out to the right with the right side of the tug/cab going under the aircraft. At one time the plane was attached in the cradle of the tug...no towbar was used.

A visitor from Russian Federation posted Wed February 7, 2007:
I just cannot fancy the scenario which led to such an outcome.
Has the tug hit any support from under the DC, and the remains of the support was removed before the photograph? I pray the tug driver has survived. But how did he manage to?
Preston, if there were more info it could have been 5 star. Now it is 4 star.
The pic has left me anxious. )))

A visitor from Spain posted Wed February 7, 2007:
A love scene !!

A visitor from Hong Kong posted Wed February 7, 2007:
Are they fighting each other, like boxing?

A visitor from Hong Kong posted Wed February 7, 2007:
Does the driver of the push back truck injured or not? How can that be! Impossible!

A visitor from Spain posted Wed February 7, 2007:
Goldholer, mmmh... If it is golden, i don't know, but the hole is made for sure!

A visitor from United States posted Wed February 7, 2007:
Slipped on patch of glycol

A visitor from Austria posted Wed February 7, 2007:
When the tug obviously hit the left side of the plane, then where does the dc-9s' damage on the right side of the hull come from?

A visitor from Australia posted Wed February 7, 2007:
DC-9 vs. Pushback Tug.
I Think the DC-9 won

A visitor from United States posted Tue February 6, 2007:
Yee haw!!! BOY!!! Buck 'em cowboy! Yipee!!

A visitor from United States posted Tue February 6, 2007:
So, are there any details on what happened here?

A visitor from United States posted Tue February 6, 2007:
Looks like they both got totally owned.

A visitor from United States posted Tue February 6, 2007:
Huh, who won?

Seriously though, that DC-9 will now probably be scrapped. Too bad, I like the DC-9.

A visitor from Canada posted Tue February 6, 2007:
Thats the second DC9 to go in a week for NW!!

A visitor from Chile posted Tue February 6, 2007:
That i sooooo NWA! hahah 5* for sure!

A visitor from United States posted Tue February 6, 2007:
Somebody is fired. i wonder who was moving, i'm guessing both.

A visitor from Canada posted Tue February 6, 2007:
Im guessing the driver got sooo fired.

A visitor from United States posted Tue February 6, 2007:
Glad there were no casualties here- Oh wait there is one: probably someone's job :-/

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