B757 captain reports flight attendant injury during pushback when the brakes are applied with the ai...

Attributes
ACN	866156
Time
Date	200912
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Normal Brake System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 13000 Flight Crew Type 5000
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 220 Flight Crew Total 8000 Flight Crew Type 800
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown

Narrative:

Crew member injury. During push back from gate; I understood the push back crew say 'set brakes;' when in fact he had said 'start engine.' as I started to push the brake pedals; there was a jolt; and I realized we were still moving. The purser was thrown into the corner of the lavatory wall and injured her shoulder and neck. Factors contributing to this incident were the pushback crew member's poor english (he was very hard to understand; even when I asked to verify what he said; after the incident); and early morning darkness with few visual cues. I was verifying the departure and routing in the FMC when I started to set the brakes. The first officer was executing his sops. We returned to the gate and had an in-flight supervisor and paramedics meet the airplane. The purser was taken out by wheelchair and replaced with a new flight attendant.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 Captain reports Flight Attendant injury during pushback when the brakes are applied with the aircraft in motion. The reporter misunderstood the pushback crew's instructions.

Narrative: Crew member injury. During push back from gate; I understood the push back crew say 'Set Brakes;' when in fact he had said 'Start Engine.' As I started to push the brake pedals; there was a jolt; and I realized we were still moving. The Purser was thrown into the corner of the lavatory wall and injured her shoulder and neck. Factors contributing to this incident were the pushback crew member's poor English (he was very hard to understand; even when I asked to verify what he said; after the incident); and early morning darkness with few visual cues. I was verifying the departure and routing in the FMC when I started to set the brakes. The First Officer was executing his SOPs. We returned to the gate and had an in-flight Supervisor and paramedics meet the airplane. The Purser was taken out by wheelchair and replaced with a new Flight Attendant.

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.

B757 captain reports flight attendant injury during pushback when the brakes are applied with the aircraft in motion. The reporter misunderstood the pushback crew's instructions.