Narrative:

While servicing an air start on a 757 aircraft at the gate the captain was ready to begin the air start process and mechanic give the clear signal to start. Captain begin the air start process and when the # 1 engine running at the speed required he gave the mechanic the ok to disconnect the ground power cable and air start hose . I got the ok from the mechanic and following SOP; I began to disconnect the hose from the port. While stowing away the hose without any warning or indication from anybody the captain began to start the # 2 engine at the gate. I have never seen this happen in my years of ramp service experience. While the # 2 engine was gaining more speed I signaled the mechanic to tell the captain to shut the engine off; my manager was plane side and noticed my signal he rushed to tell the mechanic about what was going on. The captain shut the # 2 engine off. I rushed to stow the hose away and move the unit away from the # 2 engine. I was afraid not only to be ingested in the # 2 engine but also the hose of the air start unit been ingested and the possibilities of a huge aircraft damage. As I said before I have never seen this event happen and why would the captain start the #2 engine at the gate? Also per SOP we cannot push back an aircraft with both engines running. This incident could have been a major disaster. I asked the mechanic if the captain had said anything about starting the # 2 and he said no he just did it.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Ramp Agent reported that during air start of a B757 at gate after start of Engine #1; crew started Engine #2 before the start cart and hose had been removed from in front of it. Ramp Agent had to signal to mechanic to have crew shut down Engine #2.

Narrative: While servicing an air start on a 757 aircraft at the gate the Captain was ready to begin the air start process and mechanic give the clear signal to start. Captain begin the air start process and when the # 1 engine running at the speed required he gave the mechanic the OK to disconnect the ground power cable and air start hose . I got the OK from the mechanic and following SOP; I began to disconnect the hose from the port. While stowing away the hose without any warning or indication from anybody the Captain began to start the # 2 engine at the gate. I have never seen this happen in my years of ramp service experience. While the # 2 engine was gaining more speed I signaled the mechanic to tell the Captain to shut the engine off; my manager was plane side and noticed my signal he rushed to tell the mechanic about what was going on. The Captain shut the # 2 engine off. I rushed to stow the hose away and move the unit away from the # 2 engine. I was afraid not only to be ingested in the # 2 engine but also the hose of the air start unit been ingested and the possibilities of a huge aircraft damage. As I said before I have never seen this event happen and why would the Captain start the #2 engine at the gate? Also per SOP we cannot push back an aircraft with both engines running. This incident could have been a major disaster. I asked the mechanic if the Captain had said anything about starting the # 2 and he said no he just did it.

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.