Narrative:

We got our clearance to push back from [the gate] and established contact with the ground crew as we always do. As the pushback commenced; we were given clearance to start engine 1. Engine 1 was still spooling up when I was told to set brakes. Our nose was extremely close to the non-movement area and was titled towards the northwest direction. I inquired the tug driver if that is where we normally get pushed to. The reason for this inquiry was because there were fuel trucks and service vehicles ahead and to our 9-10 o'clock position and within close proximity in the non-movement area; and knowing that we would have to make a turn in the southerly direction initially to taxi to our runway; I wanted to know if we could get pushed further back. It was at this point that we heard the tug driver yell on the radio; 'set the brake; you're rolling up on us'. At first; the call did not make any sense at all. I believe I asked him to say again. Then [the] first officer and I both heard a grinding noise and could feel the airplane moving. My initial thought was that the tug was malfunctioning and that it was dragging the airplane along with it. It was hard to tell but it felt as if there was resistance and vibration along with the grinding noise. The tug driver called again saying 'set the brake'. My feet were already close to the brake pedals and I immediately applied steady pressure and brought the airplane to a stop. At this time; once the aircraft had been brought to a complete stop with the brake pedals; I did engage the parking brake handle. I asked the tug driver what had just occurred. He told me that he had instructed me to set the brakes and that because I didn't; the aircraft was rolling towards him. This did not make any sense to me. We have procedures in place that prevent an airplane from rolling prematurely. This being that the tug is usually connected until authorized to disconnect. I employed the same practices I do every day when I push back and that is that I never authorize a disconnect until the airplane gets a normal stabilized start from engine 1. This is something I've always done. I asked the tug driver again to explain what had happened and that is when he finally confessed that his crew member had prematurely disconnected the tug. This was done without any authorization by me. This was extremely unsafe and violates all our procedures in place. The parking brake was not set; and even though engine 1 had not fully started; it was producing thrust which is why the airplane started rolling forward towards the tug bar and vehicle. I asked the tug driver what the noise was and if the tug had impacted the nose wheel assembly. He replied that the tow bar only impacted the tires and that they had inspected it and 'we were good to go'. This was certainly not something the first officer and I were going to take gently. Sitting up in the cockpit; we had no idea what the extent of the damage was below. I looked over to the right and saw 2 aircraft on the taxiway waiting for us. We both decided it would be best to return to the gate and have a thorough maintenance inspection of the nose wheel/strut assembly. As we were pulling in; we communicated with our flight attendants explaining the situation. They said along with all the passengers they felt the aircraft jerking and heard the noise. After getting the jet bridge connected; I made a PA from the cabin explaining the situation to the passengers. They were understating of the situation. I then spoke to the station manager and called maintenance control. Both first officer and I went down to look at the airplane. The grinding noise seems to have been the tow bar impacting the nose wheel tire and rims. We could not find any damage to the nose wheel strut assembly thankfully so. We spoke to the ground crew and at first they apologized; but what really struck us as odd was their lack of remorse or concern. They were engaging in jokes and not the least bit concerned about the potentially dangerous predicament they had put themselves and us as pilots responsible for. It was extremely shocking. Maintenance looked over the tires with the first officer and I. We pointed out the rim shavings and tire scuff marks from the contact. He then sent pictures to the controller and they determined that the best course of action was to replace both nose wheel tires. We were completely fine with that decision. I advised the station manager and our dispatcher and the decision to deplane was made; because the airplane had to be lifted off the ground. I made another PA and passengers were understanding. Maintenance started working on the tire replacements. It must be mentioned that we had another issue present itself with the ground crew while we waited for the tire change. Earlier we were given a load report indicating a bag count of +72 bags. Immediately this was an alarming number and so we asked if it was below the line; to which we got a very reassuring yes and a response that stated that they packed them in very efficiently. First officer asked if he should go down there to check but by the time we finished our checklists; we had barely 2 mins to close and get out on time. I told him that I would reconfirm with the ground crew over the radio. I did and we got another very reassuring yes. While we were on the ramp; the fwd baggage compartment had to [be] opened for an aisle chair. We took the opportunity to look inside and to our dismay we found bags packed to the ceiling. There were at least 3 bags blatantly over the fire suppression line. When shown the bags; the individual (same person as the tug driver) who wouldn't give us his name got extremely confrontational with us. He told us 'don't understand why it's such a big deal'. I took the time to explain to him the severity of that line and that by defying it; he takes away our only fighting chance of a fire in the air. He honestly did not seem concerned in the least bit. He was more upset that he may have to move bags. I told him to immediately move bags to the rear if he needs to but we won't be pushing back with bags above the fire line. At this point; he got even more heated. His manager came out and talked with us. He seemed to be more civil. He said that it has been a hot topic and that he will discuss it with his guys. The tire change took approx. 45 minutes. I went up and made a gate announcement with the good news and we started re-boarding. Paperwork was completed in the logbook; doors closed; and we pushed back once again. Total delay was 2:01. Flight continued without incident or issues. Simply put this incident was due to gross negligence by the ground crew who blatantly disobeyed procedures and practices put in place to avoid this exact scenario. It was dangerous; unsafe; time consuming; stressful; and costly to the airline. This sort of haphazard behavior should not be encouraged nor tolerated when dealing with such heavy machinery. The ground crew put themselves in danger and put both first officer and I in a very compromising situation. The worst part is there was no remorse whatsoever even when we explained the severity of the issues to them in great detail. They wanted us to continue with the flight after this incident; possibly thinking that it would he slipped under the rug if we did. This is not acceptable. Hopefully some action is taken against the concerned parties and situations like this do not arise in the future for our airline.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-175 Captain reported improper ground crew procedures damaged the nose tires and rims from tow bar impact and improper loading resulted in baggage stacked above the 'fire suppression line' limit.

Narrative: We got our clearance to push back from [the gate] and established contact with the ground crew as we always do. As the pushback commenced; we were given clearance to start Engine 1. Engine 1 was still spooling up when I was told to set brakes. Our nose was extremely close to the non-movement area and was titled towards the NW direction. I inquired the tug driver if that is where we normally get pushed to. The reason for this inquiry was because there were fuel trucks and service vehicles ahead and to our 9-10 o'clock position and within close proximity in the non-movement area; and knowing that we would have to make a turn in the southerly direction initially to taxi to our runway; I wanted to know if we could get pushed further back. It was at this point that we heard the tug driver yell on the radio; 'Set the Brake; you're rolling up on us'. At first; the call did not make any sense at all. I believe I asked him to say again. Then [the] First Officer and I both heard a grinding noise and could feel the airplane moving. My initial thought was that the tug was malfunctioning and that it was dragging the airplane along with it. It was hard to tell but it felt as if there was resistance and vibration along with the grinding noise. The tug driver called again saying 'set the brake'. My feet were already close to the brake pedals and I immediately applied steady pressure and brought the airplane to a stop. At this time; once the aircraft had been brought to a complete stop with the brake pedals; I did engage the Parking brake handle. I asked the tug driver what had just occurred. He told me that he had instructed me to set the brakes and that because I didn't; the aircraft was rolling towards him. This did not make any sense to me. We have procedures in place that prevent an airplane from rolling prematurely. This being that the tug is usually connected until authorized to disconnect. I employed the same practices I do every day when I push back and that is that I never authorize a disconnect until the airplane gets a normal stabilized start from Engine 1. This is something I've always done. I asked the tug driver again to explain what had happened and that is when he finally confessed that his crew member had prematurely disconnected the tug. This was done WITHOUT any authorization by me. This was extremely unsafe and violates all our procedures in place. The Parking Brake was NOT set; and even though Engine 1 had not fully started; it was producing thrust which is why the airplane started rolling forward towards the tug bar and vehicle. I asked the tug driver what the noise was and if the tug had impacted the nose wheel assembly. He replied that the tow bar only impacted the tires and that they had inspected it and 'we were good to go'. This was certainly not something the F/O and I were going to take gently. Sitting up in the cockpit; we had no idea what the extent of the damage was below. I looked over to the right and saw 2 aircraft on the taxiway waiting for us. We both decided it would be best to return to the gate and have a thorough maintenance inspection of the nose wheel/strut assembly. As we were pulling in; we communicated with our flight attendants explaining the situation. They said along with all the passengers they felt the aircraft jerking and heard the noise. After getting the jet bridge connected; I made a PA from the cabin explaining the situation to the passengers. They were understating of the situation. I then spoke to the Station manager and called Maintenance Control. Both F/O and I went down to look at the airplane. The grinding noise seems to have been the tow bar impacting the nose wheel tire and rims. We could not find any damage to the nose wheel strut assembly thankfully so. We spoke to the ground crew and at first they apologized; but what really struck us as odd was their lack of remorse or concern. They were engaging in jokes and not the least bit concerned about the potentially dangerous predicament they had put themselves and us as pilots responsible for. It was extremely shocking. Maintenance looked over the tires with the First Officer and I. We pointed out the rim shavings and tire scuff marks from the contact. He then sent pictures to the controller and they determined that the best course of action was to replace both nose wheel tires. We were completely fine with that Decision. I advised the station manager and our dispatcher and the decision to deplane was made; because the airplane had to be lifted off the ground. I made another PA and passengers were understanding. Maintenance started working on the tire replacements. It must be mentioned that we had another issue present itself with the ground crew while we waited for the tire change. Earlier we were given a load report indicating a bag count of +72 bags. Immediately this was an alarming number and so we asked if it was below the line; to which we got a very reassuring yes and a response that stated that they packed them in very efficiently. F/O asked if he should go down there to check but by the time we finished our checklists; we had barely 2 mins to close and get out on time. I told him that I would reconfirm with the ground crew over the radio. I did and we got another very reassuring yes. While we were on the ramp; the FWD baggage compartment had to [be] opened for an aisle chair. We took the opportunity to look inside and to our dismay we found bags packed to the ceiling. There were at least 3 bags blatantly over the fire suppression line. When shown the bags; the individual (same person as the tug driver) who wouldn't give us his name got extremely confrontational with us. He told us 'Don't understand why it's such a big deal'. I took the time to explain to him the severity of that line and that by defying it; he takes away our only fighting chance of a fire in the air. He honestly did not seem concerned in the least bit. He was more upset that he may have to move bags. I told him to immediately move bags to the rear if he needs to but we won't be pushing back with bags above the fire line. At this point; he got even more heated. His Manager came out and talked with us. He seemed to be more civil. He said that it has been a hot topic and that he will discuss it with his guys. The tire change took approx. 45 minutes. I went up and made a gate announcement with the good news and we started re-boarding. Paperwork was completed in the logbook; doors closed; and we pushed back once again. Total delay was 2:01. Flight continued without incident or issues. Simply put this incident was due to gross negligence by the ground crew who blatantly disobeyed procedures and practices put in place to avoid this exact scenario. It was dangerous; unsafe; time consuming; stressful; and costly to the airline. This sort of haphazard behavior should not be encouraged nor tolerated when dealing with such heavy machinery. The ground crew put themselves in danger and put both F/O and I in a very compromising situation. The worst part is there was no remorse whatsoever even when we explained the severity of the issues to them in great detail. They wanted us to continue with the flight after this incident; possibly thinking that it would he slipped under the rug if we did. This is not acceptable. Hopefully some action is taken against the concerned parties and situations like this do not arise in the future for our airline.

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.