Narrative:

I was the captain on this flight. Once we completed the flight we parked at a gate that requires air stairs. As per [company] operating procedures; we had engine #1 (left eng) running to power the aircraft until ground power was to be established. Before ground power was established; ramp personal pushed the air stairs up to the airplane and passengers began to deplane while 15 ft in front of a live running engine. It was at about the same time I noticed this that the ground power became available. I immediately transferred power and shut down the engine. Following the incident I tracked down the ramp supervisor (who was not present during the incident) and she informed me that it is normal [here] for the ramp agents to push the air stairs up to the aircraft while the engine is still running; however; the agent should not have given our flight attendant (flight attendant) the signal to open the main cabin door. This is an event that is an extreme safety risk and can have devastating consequences.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ERJ-175 Captain reported that passengers deplaned via air stairs in front of a running engine.

Narrative: I was the Captain on this flight. Once we completed the flight we parked at a gate that requires air stairs. As per [Company] operating procedures; we had Engine #1 (Left Eng) running to power the aircraft until ground power was to be established. Before ground power was established; ramp personal pushed the air stairs up to the airplane and passengers began to deplane while 15 ft IN FRONT OF A LIVE RUNNING ENGINE. It was at about the same time I noticed this that the ground power became available. I immediately transferred power and shut down the engine. Following the incident I tracked down the Ramp Supervisor (who was not present during the incident) and she informed me that it is normal [here] for the ramp agents to push the air stairs up to the aircraft while the engine is still running; however; the Agent should not have given our FA (Flight Attendant) the signal to open the main cabin door. This is an event that is an extreme safety risk and can have devastating consequences.

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.