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A320 flight crew reports a brake failure on the tug pushing them back from gate as indicated by the tug driver. Aircraft brakes are applied but not before a violent jolt is felt and the tow bar breaks. The aircraft is towed back to the gate by a different tug for maintenance.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1117043 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201309 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A320 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Other Non-Flight |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
First officer got push clearance from ramp to push to the T and repeated to me cleared to push to the T. I told tug driver; 'brakes released cleared to push to the T.' the aircraft started moving backwards. We had not pushed very far; just a few feet when a panicked tug driver started saying I have lost the brakes; I have lost the brakes. I started asking him do you want me to set the brakes? After asking three times; and not getting a reply; I applied brakes to stop the aircraft and set the brakes. I told the tug driver; the brakes are set. He did not talk to us for what seemed like a minute or two. He finally said set the brakes and I repeated brakes set. At this point I could see part of the tug out of my window. I told him I would need to talk to maintenance. Maintenance then took over communication from the tug. Maintenance disconnected the tow bar and tug. With a new tug and tow bar we were pulled back to the gate.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A320 flight crew reports a brake failure on the tug pushing them back from gate as indicated by the tug driver. Aircraft brakes are applied but not before a violent jolt is felt and the tow bar breaks. The aircraft is towed back to the gate by a different tug for maintenance.
Narrative: First Officer got push clearance from Ramp to push to the T and repeated to me cleared to push to the T. I told tug driver; 'Brakes released cleared to push to the T.' The aircraft started moving backwards. We had not pushed very far; just a few feet when a panicked tug driver started saying I have lost the brakes; I have lost the brakes. I started asking him do you want me to set the brakes? After asking three times; and not getting a reply; I applied brakes to stop the aircraft and set the brakes. I told the tug driver; the brakes are set. He did not talk to us for what seemed like a minute or two. He finally said set the brakes and I repeated brakes set. At this point I could see part of the tug out of my window. I told him I would need to talk to Maintenance. Maintenance then took over communication from the tug. Maintenance disconnected the tow bar and tug. With a new tug and tow bar we were pulled back to the gate.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.