Narrative:

We were flying a plane with the APU meled. Knowing our APU was inoperative; when we made our in-range call to ZZZ operations on the previous flight; we advised them that we were negative APU and thus needed a gpu and air start cart at the gate upon arrival. Operations assigned us [a gate] and told us that the equipment would be waiting for us. We pulled into the gate; had engine 1 shut down and engine 2 still running; waiting for the gpu to be hooked up.a ramper started yelling at us from outside that he didn't have a gpu. We kept giving the signal to connect a gpu; and he just kept yelling at us from outside the plane saying he doesn't have one. He just walked away after that. We then called operations again on the radio and told them that we really need a gpu so we can shut engine 2 down; and the operations worker said he already told the hardstand rampers that a gpu is a necessity for us; not just a preference; and that the best he could do is keep calling the rampers to tell them that. Because we were trying to make a 24 minute turn; we then began deplaning so we could be ready to load up the next group of passengers; hoping to have a gpu by that point; who were already waiting in the bus outside the plane. We began deplaning the first group and continued boarding the next group with engine 2 still running; as we still did not have a gpu.when we opened the door to let the inbound passengers off; the ramper came aboard and said he cannot hook up a gpu because all of the hardstand's gpu's are already being used by other planes at [other] gates. In the chaos; the captain stepped off the plane to talk to rampers to figure out what exactly was going on; while I stayed aboard to quickly get the plane ready for the next flight trying to maintain a 24 minute turn. Meanwhile; passengers started boarding even though we weren't ready - another thing we had to divert our attention to. Somewhere in all of the commotion; the fueler showed up and started fueling the aircraft; but both of us were so preoccupied with the situation that we missed it; and didn't realize until later that the plane was being fueled with an engine still running. We never got a gpu during the turn; so engine 2 was running the whole time. Through the distractions of boarding passengers; continuous calls to operations trying to get a gpu; dealing with rampers outside; and trying to turn the aircraft as quickly as possible; we admittedly made the mistake of not noticing the fueling in progress; which is something we need to consider the next time a situation like this arises. From what we understand; fueling with an engine running is not allowed; so we needed to watch out for that. The organization at the hardstands was horrible. Operations knew a gpu was a necessity; and if they knew they didn't have one available; they should have told us ahead of time or assigned us a different gate. Granted; the operations worker on the radio was fairly helpful in answering our calls and calling supervisors on our behalf. It seems to me in this situation that the rampers should have passed it back along to operations that they didn't have an available gpu. If they did that; operations could have started working on getting us a different gate before we were actually parked at [our gate]; or came up with another equally acceptable solution. There were a bunch of people involved in this scenario; none of which communicated effectively with each other. We believe we did our duty and clearly stated our needs; it was up to operations at that point to fulfill them.also; make sure fuelers know that if they see or hear the engine still running; do not start fueling. This isn't to take away the responsibility from the flight crew to ensure no fueling occurs with a running engine; but [to] add an extra layer of protection just in case the flight crew is too preoccupied to notice; like in our situation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB 145 flight crew reported that despite the request; a ground power unit was unavailable and led to multiple safety violations.

Narrative: We were flying a plane with the APU MELed. Knowing our APU was inoperative; when we made our in-range call to ZZZ Operations on the previous flight; we advised them that we were negative APU and thus needed a GPU and air start cart at the gate upon arrival. Operations assigned us [a gate] and told us that the equipment would be waiting for us. We pulled into the gate; had engine 1 shut down and engine 2 still running; waiting for the GPU to be hooked up.A Ramper started yelling at us from outside that he didn't have a GPU. We kept giving the signal to connect a GPU; and he just kept yelling at us from outside the plane saying he doesn't have one. He just walked away after that. We then called Operations again on the radio and told them that we really need a GPU so we can shut engine 2 down; and the Operations worker said he already told the hardstand rampers that a GPU is a necessity for us; not just a preference; and that the best he could do is keep calling the rampers to tell them that. Because we were trying to make a 24 minute turn; we then began deplaning so we could be ready to load up the next group of passengers; hoping to have a GPU by that point; who were already waiting in the bus outside the plane. We began deplaning the first group and continued boarding the next group with engine 2 still running; as we still did not have a GPU.When we opened the door to let the inbound passengers off; the Ramper came aboard and said he cannot hook up a GPU because all of the hardstand's GPU's are already being used by other planes at [other] gates. In the chaos; the Captain stepped off the plane to talk to rampers to figure out what exactly was going on; while I stayed aboard to quickly get the plane ready for the next flight trying to maintain a 24 minute turn. Meanwhile; passengers started boarding even though we weren't ready - another thing we had to divert our attention to. Somewhere in all of the commotion; the Fueler showed up and started fueling the aircraft; but both of us were so preoccupied with the situation that we missed it; and didn't realize until later that the plane was being fueled with an engine still running. We never got a GPU during the turn; so engine 2 was running the whole time. Through the distractions of boarding passengers; continuous calls to Operations trying to get a GPU; dealing with rampers outside; and trying to turn the aircraft as quickly as possible; we admittedly made the mistake of not noticing the fueling in progress; which is something we need to consider the next time a situation like this arises. From what we understand; fueling with an engine running is not allowed; so we needed to watch out for that. The organization at the hardstands was horrible. Operations knew a GPU was a necessity; and if they knew they didn't have one available; they should have told us ahead of time or assigned us a different gate. Granted; the Operations worker on the radio was fairly helpful in answering our calls and calling supervisors on our behalf. It seems to me in this situation that the rampers should have passed it back along to Operations that they didn't have an available GPU. If they did that; Operations could have started working on getting us a different gate before we were actually parked at [our gate]; or came up with another equally acceptable solution. There were a bunch of people involved in this scenario; none of which communicated effectively with each other. We believe we did our duty and clearly stated our needs; it was up to Operations at that point to fulfill them.Also; make sure fuelers know that if they see or hear the engine still running; do not start fueling. This isn't to take away the responsibility from the flight crew to ensure no fueling occurs with a running engine; but [to] add an extra layer of protection just in case the flight crew is too preoccupied to notice; like in our situation.

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.