Narrative:

Gate is a tow in gate for 777s. We entered; shut down the engines; then waited for headset contact. The tug and driver were waiting in the alley; and the tug pulled up; but nothing for 10 minutes. Then when he finally connected the headset; he said; 'ok; we're all set.' nothing close to SOP verbage and flight manual required statements such as configured; or ready for tow.we proceeded with the tow; the tug driver obviously did not know SOP and required procedure for a tow. This is where it got scary.we were being towed into [the] gate. Next to us was a 737 parked on the left. The driver started the turn into the gate very early- cutting the corner; to the point the left wing tip was very close to the 737; and the wing walker was not looking at our plane; just at the tug and tug driver! They had no idea the wing was very close to the 737.now; even more scary. The tug comes to a stop; then next thing I know; he unhooks the tow bar; the plane lurches backwards; and starts to roll backwards; without setting the parking brake! I immediately; and gently set the brake; and simultaneously stated; 'parking brake needs to be set!'the airplane moved backwards; and there was an extreme chance for major injury; as the main wheel chocks were being set; and for major aircraft damage. Thankfully; none of this was the case.the tug driver obviously did not know SOP; had no idea of the safety implications of not following SOP. The [early morning] arrival did not help. Good thing we were alert or this could have ended disastrously.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B777 Captain reported an unsafe situation developed during tow in to the gate as the tug operator did not comply with SOPs.

Narrative: Gate is a tow in gate for 777s. We entered; shut down the engines; then waited for headset contact. The tug and driver were waiting in the alley; and the tug pulled up; but nothing for 10 minutes. Then when he finally connected the headset; he said; 'Ok; we're all set.' Nothing close to SOP verbage and flight manual required statements such as configured; or ready for tow.We proceeded with the tow; the tug driver obviously did not know SOP and required procedure for a tow. This is where it got scary.We were being towed into [the] gate. Next to us was a 737 parked on the left. The driver started the turn into the gate very early- cutting the corner; to the point the L wing tip was very close to the 737; and the wing walker was not looking at our plane; just at the tug and tug driver! They had no idea the wing was very close to the 737.Now; even more scary. The tug comes to a stop; then next thing I know; he unhooks the tow bar; the plane lurches backwards; and starts to roll backwards; without setting the parking brake! I immediately; and gently set the brake; and simultaneously stated; 'Parking Brake needs to be set!'The airplane moved backwards; and there was an extreme chance for major injury; as the main wheel chocks were being set; and for major aircraft damage. Thankfully; none of this was the case.The tug driver obviously did not know SOP; had no idea of the safety implications of not following SOP. The [early morning] arrival did not help. Good thing we were alert or this could have ended disastrously.

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.