Narrative:

I was the first officer (first officer) on flight. During pushback captain called for me to start engine number 1. I was in the process of starting the number 1 engine; right about the time the ground crew usually calls for 'brakes-set' I felt the aircraft shudder abruptly and it seemed like the tow bar snapped. I set up my [radio] so that I could hear the communication between the captain and the pushback crew and I heard the ground crew say 'stop - stop - stop'. After I finished my after start flow for the number 1 engine the captain inquired what the issue with the tow bar was. He was informed that the tow bar slid underneath the nose wheel and there might be damage. Captain then asked me to call operations and maintenance to coordinate an inspection of the nose gear. He then commented that he never made the communication back to the ground crew that 'brakes-set' and they tried to disconnect early. Even though my [radio] was not set up to listen to ground communications as per SOP I can attest that I never heard the captain give the 'brakes-set' response to the pushback crew.after maintenance came out and did a preliminary inspection they determined that it was safe to taxi under our own power back to the gate. After we arrived at the gate; shut down the engines and finished our checklists captain called the [operations manager] to coordinate what the next steps were. The [manager] informed him that since there was an injury to one of the ground crew and that he was being transported to the hospital due to a facial injury.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier First Officer and Ramp Lead reported a pushback event that resulted in an injured ramp worker.

Narrative: I was the First Officer (FO) on flight. During pushback Captain called for me to start engine number 1. I was in the process of starting the number 1 engine; right about the time the ground crew usually calls for 'brakes-set' I felt the aircraft shudder abruptly and it seemed like the tow bar snapped. I set up my [radio] so that I could hear the communication between the Captain and the pushback crew and I heard the ground crew say 'Stop - Stop - Stop'. After I finished my after start flow for the number 1 engine the Captain inquired what the issue with the tow bar was. He was informed that the tow bar slid underneath the nose wheel and there might be damage. Captain then asked me to call Operations and maintenance to coordinate an inspection of the nose gear. He then commented that he never made the communication back to the ground crew that 'brakes-set' and they tried to disconnect early. Even though my [radio] was not set up to listen to ground communications as per SOP I can attest that I never heard the Captain give the 'brakes-set' response to the pushback crew.After maintenance came out and did a preliminary inspection they determined that it was safe to taxi under our own power back to the gate. After we arrived at the gate; shut down the engines and finished our checklists Captain called the [Operations Manager] to coordinate what the next steps were. The [Manager] informed him that since there was an injury to one of the ground crew and that he was being transported to the hospital due to a facial injury.

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.