Narrative:

Released brakes after coordinating with pushback crew. He was apparently listening to ATC because he began to push before the first officer relayed the pushback clearance to me. I asked him if he was listening to ATC and he confirmed this. I told him this was very dangerous and reminded him that his instructions to push must come from the cockpit and not from overhearing the ground controller. As this is a safety issue; we reminded him to file a report. He was unclear what this meant so we told him to ask his supervisor.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A GND PUSH CREW LISTENING TO ATC BEGAN THE B737-300 PUSH UPON ATC CLRNC BUT PRIOR TO THE FLT CREW CLRING THEM TO PUSHBACK.

Narrative: RELEASED BRAKES AFTER COORDINATING WITH PUSHBACK CREW. HE WAS APPARENTLY LISTENING TO ATC BECAUSE HE BEGAN TO PUSH BEFORE THE FO RELAYED THE PUSHBACK CLRNC TO ME. I ASKED HIM IF HE WAS LISTENING TO ATC AND HE CONFIRMED THIS. I TOLD HIM THIS WAS VERY DANGEROUS AND REMINDED HIM THAT HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO PUSH MUST COME FROM THE COCKPIT AND NOT FROM OVERHEARING THE GND CTLR. AS THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE; WE REMINDED HIM TO FILE A RPT. HE WAS UNCLEAR WHAT THIS MEANT SO WE TOLD HIM TO ASK HIS SUPVR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.