During push back; an A319 captain is asked to set brakes. When advised by the captain that the aircr...

Narrative:

Pre-departure was routine; though we were cleared to push about 3 minutes late due to late passenger arriving and getting settled. Received clearance to push from ramp after an aircraft cleared behind us. I relayed to ramp with standard terminology. He told me to release brakes; which I did. We sat and waited for the aircraft to move. Shortly thereafter; we started to push back; and about 10 seconds later I got a call in the headset to set brakes. I mentioned that we were moving; and the push crew said he knew; the tow bar was disconnected. I applied the brakes and when we stopped set the parking brake. When the ramper came back on the radio; I asked what happened and he said he hadn't locked the tow bar and it had disconnected. I estimate we had rolled about 8 ft. I asked him if he and everyone else was ok and he said he was fine; but that this is what happens when people are rushing you to depart on time. I agreed and told him that I would write up a maintenance action so that we could get the airplane inspected for damage.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: During push back; an A319 Captain is asked to set brakes. When advised by the Captain that the aircraft is still moving; the tug driver explains the tow bar has separated from the aircraft. No damage occurs.

Narrative: Pre-departure was routine; though we were cleared to push about 3 minutes late due to late passenger arriving and getting settled. Received clearance to push from Ramp after an aircraft cleared behind us. I relayed to ramp with standard terminology. He told me to release brakes; which I did. We sat and waited for the aircraft to move. Shortly thereafter; we started to push back; and about 10 seconds later I got a call in the headset to set brakes. I mentioned that we were moving; and the push crew said he knew; the tow bar was disconnected. I applied the brakes and when we stopped set the parking brake. When the ramper came back on the radio; I asked what happened and he said he hadn't locked the tow bar and it had disconnected. I estimate we had rolled about 8 FT. I asked him if he and everyone else was OK and he said he was fine; but that this is what happens when people are rushing you to depart on time. I agreed and told him that I would write up a maintenance action so that we could get the airplane inspected for damage.

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	955607
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
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	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 175 Flight Crew Total 11000 Flight Crew Type 5080
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control

During push back; an A319 captain is asked to set brakes. When advised by the captain that the aircraft is still moving; the tug driver explains the tow bar has separated from the aircraft. No damage occurs.