A319 captain reported aircraft rolling back after being told by ground crew to release brakes. Other...

Narrative:

Cleared for pushback from gate; referencing inbound. Cleared to release brakes by pushback crew. Aircraft started to roll back; tug driver said 'set your brakes;' you're starting to roll away.' I stopped the plane using the brake pedals; so as not to launch flight attendants during their demo; then set the parking brake once the aircraft came to a stop. Asked pushback crew what happened; was told 'I don't know.' tug came back up to plane; and we clearly heard them attaching the tow bar. Completed pushback; was told 'towbar disconnected; pin removed;' but ECAM still showed NWS disc. Told pushback crew; who then removed the NWS pin. I am convinced the towbar wasn't connected to the plane at all the first time. I think there would have been some noise from it popping loose. For what it's worth; this same ramper was the second guideman for the dogleg turn-in to park; and didn't seem to understand that there is a bit of lag in straightening out the nosewheel coming off a full-deflection turn. This is a tricky gate...maybe a bit more training might be in order.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 Captain reported aircraft rolling back after being told by ground crew to release brakes. Other mental lapses by this ground crewman were also noted.

Narrative: Cleared for pushback from gate; referencing inbound. Cleared to release brakes by pushback crew. Aircraft started to roll back; tug driver said 'Set your brakes;' you're starting to roll away.' I stopped the plane using the brake pedals; so as not to launch flight attendants during their demo; then set the parking brake once the aircraft came to a stop. Asked pushback crew what happened; was told 'I don't know.' Tug came back up to plane; and we clearly heard them attaching the tow bar. Completed pushback; was told 'Towbar disconnected; pin removed;' but ECAM still showed NWS DISC. Told pushback crew; who then removed the NWS pin. I am convinced the towbar wasn't connected to the plane at all the first time. I think there would have been some noise from it popping loose. For what it's worth; this same Ramper was the second guideman for the dogleg turn-in to park; and didn't seem to understand that there is a bit of lag in straightening out the nosewheel coming off a full-deflection turn. This is a tricky gate...maybe a bit more training might be in order.

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.

Attributes
ACN	852430
Time
Date	200909
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150 Flight Crew Total 20000 Flight Crew Type 3000
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control

A319 captain reported aircraft rolling back after being told by ground crew to release brakes. Other mental lapses by this ground crewman were also noted.