EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Object
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged
Airport; Human Factors
Taxi into gate after another ERJ had just parked to our right. Rampers were outside waiting on us; and I and the First Officer did not see obstacles in our path. The Ramper on the lead-in line marshalled us in using lighted wands; and I saw a wing walker on the left also using lighted wands. I do not remember seeing a right wing walker or any obstacles. During the last 3-4 feet of the taxi in; we felt a vibration; like we were driving over bumps in a road. We set the brake and shut down the aircraft once ground power was available. The First Officer did the post flight walk around and asked me to come down to the ramp; where several operations people were examining our right wingtip. It was obvious that we had hit something; with scratches and rub marks starting at the leading edge; marking the underside of the wing; back to the aileron. The nav light lens was also scratched on the bottom; and the light baffle between the lens and the wing was cracked; with pieces missing. The Ramper who was on the lead-in line and marshalling us in was there; and stated the right wing walker was not using lighted wands and he (the lead-in person) never saw the right wing walker drop his wand; indicating we needed to stop. We did not see this occur as we were already past his position; and I was focused on the lead-in Ramper who was guiding us in. In speaking to the Operations Supervisor there seemed to be some doubt whether there was a right wing walker waiting for us; or whether this person was working the adjacent flight and moved into position as we were taxiing in; but did not have lighted wands. Again this was outside my field of view; and all indications I had from the lead-in Ramper indicated it was safe to continue. I obtained photos of the damage; the ramp safety markings; but the bag cart we hit had already been moved away from the aircraft. For this reason I am unable to ascertain exactly where on the ramp we hit the bag cart; if the bag cart was stationary or in motion; and if the bag cart was inside the red safety zone at the time of impact. I contacted Maintenance Control; emailed Maintenance Control photos of the damage; called Dispatch; and spoke to the Chief Pilot on call. The ground crew was the primary threat here; and their non-compliance to safety policies concerning lighted wands and equipment within the safety zone. Communication between the ground crew was very poor; as I believe the lead-in Ramper would have stopped us if he had any indication of an obstacle in our path.
While taxiing into gate we saw that there was a wing walker for each wing and another ramper to guide the nose of the plane in. The ramp was clear as best we could see. While we were coming to a stop at the gate we felt a vibration that felt like driving over rough pavement and didn't really think all that much about it. When I went to do the walk around the Lead Ramper came up to me and said we had a slight problem. He showed me where we had hit a bag cart. There were some scratches on the leading edge of the wing about two feet from the tip and the deflector by the nav light had been hit but was still attached. The under side of the wing and aileron had rubber marks from the rubber piece on top of the bag cart but it didn't look like there were any dents. The Lead Ramper said that the wing walker didn't have lighted wands so he was unable to see him saying stop. At that point I informed the Captain of what had happened and he talked to the Ramper; the on call Chief Pilot; and called Maintenance. We were on a less than 9 hour overnight so we decided that the Flight Attendant and I would go on to the hotel and he would wait and talk to the Ramp Supervisor. The threats were that it was dark at a busy airport and the wing walker didn't have lighted wands (which we didn't know). I don't think there were any errors by us; the parking spot looked to be clear and there was a wing walker to watch the wing.
EMB145 flight crew reports right wingtip damage due to contacting a baggage cart during taxi in to the gate under the direction of a marshall and two wing walkers.