A B737-700 captain intending to crossbleed start #2 engine from #1 bleed air; instead shut down #1 e...

Narrative:

Inoperative APU; second flight of the day; on time; started the number one engine at gate; cleared equipment; pushed from the gate; asked for taxi to remote area for crossbleed start of number two engine. Stopping at designated location; the aircraft began to slightly shimmy under braking. I stopped braking then applied brakes again; shimmy did not happen again so I set the parking brake. I then grabbed the number one engine start lever and began to shut the number one engine down. Realizing what I was doing; I quickly returned it to the previous position but the engine had already shut down. We were now on battery power. I told the flight attendants to remain seated; then told ATC we would need a tow back to the gate and we had one radio and would need to go off frequency to coordinate with operations. We turned IRS one and two off; and tried to explain to the passengers what had happened. We were back at the gate in approximately 10 minutes. Started the engine and did the procedure properly the second time. The remainder of the flight was uneventful.I guess I would say it was muscle memory; the same motion as arriving at a gate; number two engine shut down; parking brake set. I should be more deliberate in all of my actions; but it happened so fast that the first officer did not even have time to react. The brake shimmy was a distraction; but that does not excuse me from my action.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-700 Captain intending to crossbleed start #2 engine from #1 bleed air; instead shut down #1 engine. With the APU inoperative; the aircraft was towed back to the gate for a second start.

Narrative: Inoperative APU; second flight of the day; on time; started the number one engine at gate; cleared equipment; pushed from the gate; asked for taxi to remote area for crossbleed start of number two engine. Stopping at designated location; the aircraft began to slightly shimmy under braking. I stopped braking then applied brakes again; shimmy did not happen again so I set the parking brake. I then grabbed the number one engine start lever and began to shut the number one engine down. Realizing what I was doing; I quickly returned it to the previous position but the engine had already shut down. We were now on battery power. I told the Flight Attendants to remain seated; then told ATC we would need a tow back to the gate and we had one radio and would need to go off frequency to coordinate with Operations. We turned IRS one and two off; and tried to explain to the Passengers what had happened. We were back at the gate in approximately 10 minutes. Started the engine and did the procedure properly the second time. The remainder of the flight was uneventful.I guess I would say it was muscle memory; the same motion as arriving at a gate; number two engine shut down; Parking brake set. I should be more deliberate in all of my actions; but it happened so fast that the FO did not even have time to react. The brake shimmy was a distraction; but that does not excuse me from my action.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

Attributes
ACN	1285081
Time
Date	201508
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Turbine Engine
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 315 Flight Crew Type 14000
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 26 Flight Crew Type 2000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A B737-700 captain intending to crossbleed start #2 engine from #1 bleed air; instead shut down #1 engine. With the APU inoperative; the aircraft was towed back to the gate for a second start.