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A MD80 taxied without nosewheel steering after a ramp employee held up what appeared to be nosewheel steering bypass flag. The bypass pin was removed by another worker after the crew reported the nosewheel steering inoperative.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 848885 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200908 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | FO |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Nosewheel Steering |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control |
Narrative:
I am writing this report since I am concerned about lack of training of the ramp employees. After push back; the tractor was moving away from the aircraft. I noticed a male ramp employee walking away from the aircraft with a red streamer in hand. Another ramp employee appeared to yell something to him. He turned around; looked at me; raised the streamer up in the air; turned around and continued to walk towards the terminal. Starting to taxi we had no nosewheel steering. Station was notified via radio and supposedly a supervisor came out to the aircraft. He removed the steering bypass pin; showed it to me with a proper salute and we departed. It would appear that the employee who initially pulled the streamer from the nose gear did not know how to give a salute; understand the importance of a salute; nor did he understand the reason and procedure for pulling the bypass pin; since he apparently pulled the streamer from the pin and walked away leaving the pin in the nose gear. I am afraid if a ramp employee can show that little knowledge of our procedures that possibly bodily harm to him or another ramp employee could occur at that station.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A MD80 taxied without nosewheel steering after a ramp employee held up what appeared to be nosewheel steering bypass flag. The bypass pin was removed by another worker after the crew reported the nosewheel steering inoperative.
Narrative: I am writing this report since I am concerned about lack of training of the ramp employees. After push back; the tractor was moving away from the aircraft. I noticed a male ramp employee walking away from the aircraft with a red streamer in hand. Another ramp employee appeared to yell something to him. He turned around; looked at me; raised the streamer up in the air; turned around and continued to walk towards the terminal. Starting to taxi we had no nosewheel steering. Station was notified via radio and supposedly a Supervisor came out to the aircraft. He removed the steering bypass pin; showed it to me with a proper salute and we departed. It would appear that the employee who initially pulled the streamer from the nose gear did not know how to give a salute; understand the importance of a salute; nor did he understand the reason and procedure for pulling the bypass pin; since he apparently pulled the streamer from the pin and walked away leaving the pin in the nose gear. I am afraid if a ramp employee can show that little knowledge of our procedures that possibly bodily harm to him or another ramp employee could occur at that station.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.