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A319 captain reported aircraft damage and ground personnel injury resulted from poor communication between ground crew and cockpit during pushback.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1524226 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201803 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A319 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 16000 Flight Crew Type 11600 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness Ground Event / Encounter Object |
Narrative:
The first part of the pushback from gate to release point was normal and communications with the push crew were loud and clear. As we neared spot; I was prepared for the normal communication from the ground crew to 'set brakes' as the airplane came to a stop. Near the same time the airplane came to a stop; the number 1 engine generator took over powering the airplane from the APU generator. At the time I expected to hear the 'set brakes' call; interphone communication was disrupted with the electrical switchover and I never heard 'set brakes'. I became uncomfortable at this point and began to think the ground crew may be disconnecting the tow bar despite my never saying 'brakes set'. Almost immediately; I noticed the airplane move forward and heard a loud sound from the nose gear area. I set the parking brake and checked in with the ground crew. They said the tow bar had been damaged and someone was hurt. At this point; communication was very difficult due to a lot of engine noise over the inter phone. The ground crew reported that the airplane had rolled over the tow bar and the wheels on the tow bar had broken off. Aircraft maintenance inspected the nose gear and reported damage to the tires and strut and recommended a return to the gate for evaluation.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A319 Captain reported aircraft damage and ground personnel injury resulted from poor communication between ground crew and cockpit during pushback.
Narrative: The first part of the pushback from gate to release point was normal and communications with the push crew were loud and clear. As we neared spot; I was prepared for the normal communication from the ground crew to 'set brakes' as the airplane came to a stop. Near the same time the airplane came to a stop; the number 1 engine generator took over powering the airplane from the APU generator. At the time I expected to hear the 'set brakes' call; interphone communication was disrupted with the electrical switchover and I never heard 'set brakes'. I became uncomfortable at this point and began to think the ground crew may be disconnecting the tow bar despite my never saying 'brakes set'. Almost immediately; I noticed the airplane move forward and heard a loud sound from the nose gear area. I set the parking brake and checked in with the ground crew. They said the tow bar had been damaged and someone was hurt. At this point; communication was very difficult due to a lot of engine noise over the inter phone. The ground crew reported that the airplane had rolled over the tow bar and the wheels on the tow bar had broken off. Aircraft Maintenance inspected the nose gear and reported damage to the tires and strut and recommended a return to the gate for evaluation.
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.